


A Man is Know By His Silence

by thedevilyouknownow



Category: Now You See Me (2013)
Genre: Daniel has a rough time, Debts, Inaccurate portrayal of crime, Multi, Past Child Abuse, Secret Past, The past comes knocking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-15
Updated: 2017-08-04
Packaged: 2018-04-09 12:18:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 31,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4348496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedevilyouknownow/pseuds/thedevilyouknownow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You conned everyone into believing you had this perfect life and now your sitting here trying to fool me too, but guess what?” He leaned forward further so that his breath tickled the tip of Daniels nose and the magician leaned forward too, attempting to keep up the front a little while longer while the memories he had always worked to keep at bay tried to force themselves into the forefront of his mind, “I’m on to you and no matter how long it takes I will crack you, because your childhood may have been fucked up, but no one’s above the law.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prove to Me

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to teethonmydress, the best beta I could hope for.

          “We all wear masks, and the times comes when we cannot remove them without removing our own skin.” Andre Berthiaume

                                                                                                                                          ~

           This was the part he wasn’t looking forward to. They still had a lot to go but all of what was to come was going to be fun, or at the very least exciting. This however, this would be the opposite. He had never been a fan of close questioning when he had to keep the façade up constantly. It would be worse going up against the police, they were trained to spot deception. Luckily for him he had a lifetime of practice.

 

            The handcuffs though, those would make it harder, almost indefinitely so. The feeling of them around his wrists would be distracting. Already he could feel them biting into his skin with a chilled cruelty and he quickly he pulled his long sweater further down his arms, its hem resting just past the first knuckle of his thumb.

 

            Of course he didn’t even know if they would question him at all, or how much. They had all planned out what they would say, what game they would each play with the cops and had practiced incessantly, mostly on his request. He knew the words he was supposed to say, he was just struggling with the conviction part.

 

            “Freeze! Hands in the Air,” instantly his mask, already in place, hardened, becoming near impenetrable. The game had begun.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

            It was easier than he had thought it would be to keep up the pretense, to pretend. At one point he thought Rhodes had him figured out when he said he could see through him, but that had just been a bluff, something he could easily throw off with the careless raise of an eyebrow. Now all there was left to do was wait to be released, because they would be released, there was no question about that, especially after his line about the FBI and Interpol believing in magic.

 

            The door creaked open and he looked up startled when he saw Rhodes enter by himself, a manila folder clutched tightly in his hand.

 

            “Hey Atlas, there are just a few more questions I have here for you and I was hoping you would be so kind as to answer them.” Daniel raised his eyebrows and smirked, leaning back as far as the now reapplied handcuffs would let him. He tried to hide his apprehension; he wasn’t prepared for this, already having used his best tricks. Rhodes seemed different now too, without the Interpol agent in tow, and exuding a confidence that was somehow more intense than the cocky aura he had emanating when he had first walked in. 

 

            “What happened to your lady friend? She was much more fun to talk to.” Rhodes just smirked as he sat down, leaning back in his chair and opening the file slowly, eyes flicking from the page back up to him. Daniel tried not to flinch.

 

            “You must have been a clumsy kid.” Daniel frowned.

 

            “Excuse me?” An itching started up underneath his skin and he tried to act like the words didn’t sting him, didn’t make him want to curl up into a ball. If he broke now there was no way there were getting out of these deceivingly depressing rooms, and both him and Rhodes knew it.

 

            Rhodes’s smirk just widened,

 

            “I said you must have been a clumsy kid,” he nodded down to the file in his hands, “to go to the hospital so often. What was it, eleven visits by the time you were from ages ten to eighteen? Must have been hard on your father, seeing that he was a single parent and all.” The itching had turned into burning now, roasting him from his core. The handcuffs felt much tighter, the room much brighter, his shirt see through, the skin underneath exposed. He didn’t allow himself to squirm.

 

            “What can I say, I have many talents, but balance isn’t one of them.” The tightness in his voice wasn’t too noticeable but he could tell that Rhodes caught it. This was why he needed endless hours of practice, because self-control only went so far. You can’t completely stop the waver in your voice while crying no matter how hard you try. Rhodes just shook his head slowly, and leaned forward.

 

            “You wanna know what I think?” Daniel just shrugged and sat back in the chair, as if distance would slow the words falling from the agents mouth, desperately trying to summon his remaining resolve to keep the mask firmly in place.

 

            “I think that after your mom died, my condolences,” the sincerity was lacking and Daniel tried to keep his fists from clenching, “he threw you around, probably an alcoholic, maybe something worse. I think he never really recovered from the murder.”

 

            Rhodes was looking very pleased with himself as he leaned further over the table, his eyes gleaming with excitement,  “you used this magic gimmick as an escape, a trick to keep yourself from having to deal with your father, with the shittyness of everything. Then you found out you were kinda good, and used it as your ticket to escape.” Daniel forced himself to yawn to try to perturb Rhodes from the rout he had taken, show his obvious disinterest, but the man just barreled on perhaps with even more gusto than before.

 

            “You conned everyone into believing you had this perfect life and now your sitting here trying to fool me too, but guess what?” He leaned forward further so that his breath tickled the tip of Daniels nose and the magician leaned forward too, attempting to keep up the front a little while longer while the memories he had always worked to keep at bay tried to force themselves into the forefront of his mind, “I’m on to you and no matter how long it takes I will crack you, because your childhood may have been fucked up, but no one’s above the law.”

 

            Smirking Daniel leaned back and cocked his head to the side,

 

            “That’s a great story detective, and I’m sure that your buddies over in your improve class will love it,” he settled himself back in his chair, hands palms down on the table, smirk firmly in place, “but nothing could be further from the truth.” He smiled and patted the detective on the hand, safe in the knowledge that Rhodes didn’t know, not really.

 

            Rhodes just shook his head and stood up, left hand lingering on the file.

 

            “It’s impressive this act of yours, I’ll give you that. If I wasn’t staring at a file full of evidence I would almost believe you.” Daniel just smiled and folded his hands the best he could trying to calm the clawing hands that were destroying his insides, fighting off the chills that were trying to overtake him. Memories were always laced with poison and he couldn’t afford to let himself fall prey to them here where he couldn’t fall apart.

 

            “What you believe is up to you but it doesn’t change the truth.” Daniel said, immediately regretting it when Rhodes barked a laugh eyes sharp and cold,

 

            “That’s sure as hell true.” Pausing for a moment he seems to consider something before his eyes flash, “The other horsemen don’t know do they?”

 

            “As I am not in the habit of weaving tall tales...” Trailing off Daniel instantly knew it was the wrong thing to say. Rhodes had ammunition now, something to throw the others off, make them question him and create group conflict, making them easier to catch, because both he and Rhodes know that the Horseman will be out in a matter of hours.

 

            In the end it didn’t matter that Rhodes was off on his guess; so far off it was almost laughable, all that mattered was that the others would believe it. Already he could picture Merritt, Henley and Jack eating it up, connecting the dots to form the wrong picture. They would make it out of the police questioning but Daniel wouldn’t leave the interrogation room.

 

            “If it’s all the same to you I think I’ll let them draw their own conclusions.” Daniel was losing the game now; all his cards already played leaving Rhodes all the ammunition. He tapped his fingers on the table and swallowed pulling out the last resort.

 

            “Think of a number agent.” Rhodes just smiled as he stood up and pulled the file back towards himself. “From one to ten.”

 

            “I’ve had enough of your careless misdirection’s.” Daniel felt his heart sink as his last hope was dashed, he watched as Rhodes gave a mock salute before opening the door and leaving.

 

            “Four.” He called out after him and felt his spirits rise a little as the agent frowned, at least he had unnerved him a bit, it never hurt to try to get your opponent off their game even just a little. 

 

            Daniel wanted to slump back into his chair, to let the mask slip for a moment but he couldn’t, the chance that agents were just outside staring at him through the one-way glass kept him stoic, kept him stone. Instead, he yawned and leaned back a little in his chair. He allowed himself a small smile; it was in keeping with his cocky unconcerned bastard persona, the one he had worked so hard to formulate, the one that he clung to like it was the only life preserver in a storm.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

            They were released within the hour, as predicted, and drove back to the hotel surrounded by a happy buzz. Daniel remained on edge, kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, but as time wore on and the evening swiftly approached he grew less wary. His guard slowly lowered and he allowed himself to relax a little, letting a genuine smile slide onto his face. Maybe Rhodes had just been trying to get in his head, had given up the tactic when Daniel had seemed unconcerned. If Henley had heard anything she would be relentless in her pursuit of the truth. He was pretty sure Merritt would have brought it up already to throw him at some point, use it as a way to squirm inside his head and try to give hand out some of his ten dollar “therapy,” and Jack…well Jack he wasn’t sure about.

 

            The young magician was the friendliest of the four and was often brushed to the side as a result of it, well, that and his age. Daniel himself was probably the guiltiest of pushing him to the side, something he should really be trying harder to stop, even if it wasn’t in keeping with his persona. It wasn’t fair to young magician to be continuously deflected and ignored as he was really quite good, and could pull off every street trick Daniel knew but would never admit to being able to pull off. There was a slight difference to the slight of hand that a street born magician practiced, one he was sure Henley and Merritt couldn’t quite pull off.  

 

            Jack would most likely blurt it out at some random time as he didn’t quite seem to know when it would be most appropriate to bring up more sensitive issues, as was obvious by his past failed attempts to get Daniel to increase his role in shows, though again that wasn’t really Jack’s fault.

 

            None of them knew, that was it, had to be, otherwise someone would have mentioned something already, they wouldn’t be this normal. Daniel sighed and flipped the page of the novel he was reading, a psychology book he had started in an attempt to one up Merritt. Now however, he was more interested in the emergence of morals than analyzing his fellow magician’s technique, to be fair he had most definitely chosen the wrong book for achieving his goal to begin with.

 

            “Daniel,” looking up from the deck of cards he was nervously shuffling in his hands, a habit he had yet to break, he met Merritt’s eyes, “you alright there? You’re looking a bit pale.” The mentalist was staring at him with his usual intensity, eyes boring into his skull.

 

            The cards settled on his lap as he stilled his hands,

 

            “I’m touched by the sentiment but I’m just thinking. A foreign concept to you I’m sure, but one quite common place for most.” Daniel could almost feel Henley’s eye roll from where she sat opposite Merritt. Merritt raised his hands in a gesture of surrender,

 

            “Down boy.” Daniel scoffed and started to twirl the cards again, the sound of the glossed papers hitting against each other calming his nerves in a way that nothing else could. He could still feel the heat of a gaze on him, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Jerking his head up he caught Jack’s eye, the youngest of the group was sitting a few seats down, but was staring right at him. For a moment he thought it was nothing more than the idol worship he had been treated to for several weeks when they first met, until Henley had kindly reminded Jack that he was just as good a magician as the rest of them or he wouldn’t be there so stop trailing after Atlas like a puppy, but the severity of the stare made him think something else was prompting the scrutiny.

 

            Clearing his throat Daniel settled his face into a look of subtle annoyance before starting to speak, he needed to be in control, it was the only thing that kept him safe.

 

            “What.” His tone was brusque and uninviting but that was the point, intimidation was always a good technique whether it was with tone, knowledge, or physicality.

 

            Jack seemed a little startled by his intensity and he readjusted, looking down, before mumbling his answer just load enough for Daniel and the other Horsemen to hear,

 

            “Just thinking about something the detective said.” Daniel felt himself tense, knuckles going white as he gripped the cards in hands tight enough that the edges bit into his palms painfully. Jack wouldn’t meet his eyes now and he wondered if that was from his previous harshness or something else. Just as he opened his mouth to ask just what Jack was referring too Henley clapped her hands together excitedly and turned so that she was facing the isle.

 

            “Oh yes we didn’t even talk about it. Lets get some stories going!” From the way her eyes were gleaming he figured she’d given Rhodes a run for his money, maybe even the Interpol agent too.

 

            Merritt smiled, the smile that always made Daniel grind his teeth together, the one that screamed I’m-better-than-you, and tipped his hat back on his head,

 

            “I don’t know about you all but my interrogation went better than the rehearsal.” The smug smile stayed firmly in place, “Guy has some major daddy issues and the girl was secretive, honestly I’d be surprised if they weren’t already fighting. There was enough tension in the room before I started working my magic,” he wiggled his eyebrows and winked at Jack who chuckled good naturedly, “I bet they’re at each other’s throats right now.” Merritt glanced over at him and Daniel gave the other man the smile he was looking for even though he felt slightly sick from the butterflies slamming into the walls of his stomach.

 

            Henley flashed her teeth in a smile that was almost predatory, “I put them in quite the uncomfortable situation myself, they barely stayed in my room for two minutes.” Daniel forced a stale sounding chuckle from his lips, which even he winced at. The focus immediately snapped to him and Henley raised her eyebrow, as if challenging him to do better.

 

            “I stuck to what we rehearsed, you all basically owe our release to me you know.” Merritt sneered and Henley offered up a surprised laugh while Jack shook his head.

 

            “Loosen up Atlas, you know they would have released us without your little line about the FBI believing in magic if we were charged.” Merritt looked bemused, “Besides if you go through life with a stick up your ass you can’t really enjoy yourself, savor the victories.” He gestured around to the private jet they were sitting in, courtesy of Arnold(look up his name), and looked at Daniel expectantly.

 

            Before he could respond Henley had interjected,

 

            “Alright boys enough, let Jack have a go, you two are boring anyway.” She fixed her bright hazel(?) eyes on him and ignored the two of them. Jack’s expression flickered before he leaned back in his seat and shrugged,

 

            “Nothing much to say, they barely even spoke to me and I didn’t have much of a chance to get under there skin,” he shrugged seemingly unconcerned, though his eyes kept flicking over to where Daniel sat stiff in his chair, “at one point Rhodes came back in by himself and started to say something,” this time when Jack’s eyes flicked toward him they paused and Daniel heard blood roaring past his ears. He felt as though flames where lapping at his thighs, he was burning up but somehow, despite his turtleneck sweater and long kakis, still too exposed. Jack’s eyes left his own, “but before he could another agent came in and made him leave. That was when they were running out of time and their superiors were getting antsy.” Jack turned toward him, “I guess your line about the FBI and magic worked on some level.” Henley cackled and Merritt grumbled, tipping his hat so that it shadowed his face. Daniel plastered on a smug smirk even though Jack had sounded more placating then complementary. Something in the way Jack studied him, his eyes lingering a bit too long on his face till he went back to staring out the window as he had been before, told him that Jack wasn’t quite ready to drop the subject of the interrogation.

 

            Daniel allowed himself to relax, now that the immediate threat had passed he could feel himself start to unwind. The tension practically dripped out of his fingers as he slumped back in his seat, allowing his neck to loll against the headrest and his fingers to lazily dance around the cards in his lap. The heat that had been searing him just moments ago vanished. He felt safe, or at least as safe as he could feel constantly having to maintain his image, his character. His past was still in the past and he could allow himself a moment to let his guard down, just a little. Yes Jack knew something, but it couldn’t be much or he would have brought it up sooner, and whatever it was it wasn’t the truth so he could always deny it’s relevance without lying, and without revealing anything too important. Henley and Merritt were still conveniently in the dark and he planned on keeping them there, so any future conversation with Jack would have to be in private, he didn’t need Merritt trying to pry into his life, and his head, more than he did already.

 

            Confronting Jack before the young magician had a chance to corner him seemed like the best plan of action; he could be more in control of the situation if he was the one who initiated it. That way he wouldn’t be caught off guard and would have the advantage of a planned out method of attack. He didn’t want to involve Merritt or Henley, meaning that he needed to have the conversation in a private place or when they weren’t around because they would butt their way in like always, which would be difficult in it of itself because they all kept rather close quarters to limit expenses and keep a low profile.

 

            The beginnings of a headache were starting right behind his eyes and he rubbed at them absentmindedly too tired to attempt anything more. The days stress was beginning to take a toll on him, making him feel sluggish and tired, as if the whole world was just slightly out of focus. He took deep breaths, concentrating on his breathing to help lull him to sleep.

 

            A hand on his shoulder caused him to sit bolt up right almost knocking his head against Jack’s. Jack looked rather surprised himself, pulling his hand back as though he hand been burned and frowning a little, eyebrows drawing in as he gave him a genuine look of concern. Daniel smiled tightly and rubbed at his eyes, the headache that had been brewing hitting him hard.

 

            “Sorry,” Jack rubbed at his neck fretfully and Daniel had to fight the urge to roll his eyes, “I just, I wanted to talk to you and the others are asleep,” he gestured vaguely over his shoulder to where Henley and Merritt were reclining, “and, well, you never sleep on planes so I figured you were just really relaxed or something-”

 

            Daniel held up his hand to silence Jack’s babbling, distantly he felt a spark of guilt at his flippant treatment of his fellow Horseman, but his headache pushed down any urge to act on the feeling.

 

            “It’s fine, what did you want?” He tried to keep his tone neutral as he kneaded his temple with one hand while gesturing for Jack to sit with the other. Daniel watched as Jack sank into the chair opposite him, fiddling with his trademark leather(?) jacket and worrying his lip.

 

            “When I was in the interrogation room agent Rhodes said-” Jack started raising his eyes to meet Daniel’s own when Daniel cut him off,

 

            “Listen, police tend to do whatever they can to worm their way under your skin and unnerve you. I’m sure whatever Rhodes said was just to set you off balance.” Jack furrowed his brow and started to shake his head,

 

            “No I know that it’s just that I thought-” Daniel swallowed running his fingers through his hair and trying to keep himself from succumbing to the all to familiar panic that was beginning to climb its way up his throat. Guilt blossomed within him as an idea picked its way into his brain, and he forced himself to stay in the passively engaged state that he was currently projecting as he spat out the words he knew would shut Jack up,

 

            “I might have expected this from the others but honestly Jack, someone with your background should already know how these types of things work.” Instantly Jack’s jaw snapped shut and Daniel saw hurt flash across his eyes before he was able to rein in his emotions and stuff the pain somewhere invisible to the onlooker. His whole body stiffened and Daniel could see the muscles of his jaw working under his skin. The blank expression on his friends face cut Daniel deeper than he thought it would and he dug his nails into the palms of his hands to force himself to keep up his snarky cruel persona. It wasn’t fair that he was hurting Jack like this just to protect himself, the kid had no doubt been through enough. His conscience was yelling at him to apologize, to beg for forgiveness, come clean, do something. The hammering in his head increased and his headache caused a ringing in his ears, just as it was becoming to much, as the guilt had reached his mouth, Jack stood up.

 

            “Yeah, your right. It was stupid, there’s no way what he said could have been true. I should have known better.” The words were icy blades, stabbing at Daniel and tearing at his skin. A grimace that couldn’t possibly pass as a smile crossed his face but luckily Jack had already turned and started to make his way back to his seat. He allowed himself to breathe, exhaling in a long sigh as he leaned back against his seat. Silently he hoped that he hadn’t just blown any chance he’d had at getting closer to Jack, the young man certainly had a lot to offer and he thought that giving him a support system he could fall back on might help him open up. Though, he supposed he wasn’t one to be talking about opening up judging by the interaction he’d just had.

 

            Groaning he drummed his fingers against the arm rests of his seats, they should be landing soon, he felt as though they had been in the air for hours, and then he could buy some Advil and pass out. He just needed to rest, sleep of the strain of the day, and he would be fine, he would have to be, there was still so much to be done and none of them could afford it if he started to slip up. Besides, by tomorrow they’d be busy rehearsing or staying a step ahead of the police and the whole interaction would be forgotten, or at the very least pushed to the back burner for a while.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

            It had only gotten more hectic since that day in interrogation and the Horseman were exhausted. They were all enjoying a rare moment of down time in a dingy apartment in New York. Jack’s “death” had been extremely draining they were all lounging in the living room, sprawled out on chairs, the couch, and the floor in Merritt’s case. They had a few hours before they needed to pull their final stunt and everyone was grateful for the respite, however momentary.

 

            Already they had filmed the speech they were to post regarding the faked death, and all the other necessary pieces were already in place. All that was left to do was show up and complete the final show, hopefully resulting in their initiation into the Eye. It was a bit sentimental, Daniel supposed, this was one of their final moments as the Four Horseman, they might not be together like this for quite some time seeing as after the final show their instructions all but disappeared. He was unsure of the other’s thoughts regarding what to do after they were finally done, but if the Eye turned out to be some kind of hoax or they were all rejected he wasn’t sure what he would do. He had grown rather found of his fellow magicians, even Merritt, though he would never admit it, and if all else failed he thought it might be nice to stay in their company, or at least stay in touch.

 

            The silence in the room was rather relaxing and, besides the typical noises of the New York City streets, nothing made a sound, allowing each of them to be absorbed in their own thoughts.

 

            The phone ringing made him jump, cutting through the silence with a piercing clarity that made him wince. Merritt grumbled to himself and Henley kicked at his shin from where she was lying on the other side of the couch. He grimaced and pulled his foot away, rubbing at it ruefully. He caught Jack’s eye as he dug the infernal machine out of his pocket and frowned at the smirk he saw on the young man’s face.

 

            Annoyed he glanced at the caller ID and instantly stiffened, sitting straight up and pushing himself off the couch. Quickly, taking long strides he walked into one of the only other separate room, besides the bathroom, the one bedroom that they had deposited their stuff in. They wouldn’t be here long enough to sleep so it had just turned into an oversized closet. Closing the door behind him he allowed himself a moment to collect his thoughts. The shrill tone of the ringer continued and he squeezed his eyes shut before exhaling tiredly and answering the call.

 

            “Hello.” It was quick and cold, uninviting, the tone of someone who would much rather be doing something else.

 

            “Hey there boyo.” No amount of preparation could keep him from tensing when he heard the gruff, unforgiving voice of his father coming through the speakers of his phone.

 

            “What do you want?” He always wanted something. That was the only reason he called anymore, which was just fine with Daniel. He would have cut off all contact with the man years ago but he couldn’t bear the thought of having no family left, none that he knew anyway, even if he hated the man. The thought of having absolutely no one was too much for him. So he made sure his dad had his number and would answer when he called, most of the time.

 

            “What, I can’t just call you to check up on ya? I haven’t seen you in years, the least you could do is give me a call now and then.” Someone shouted in the background of the call and Daniel frowned, through the jumble of noises coming through the phone he could make out the sound of a TV.

 

            Sighing he pinched the bridge of his nose,

 

            “You’re in a bar, aren’t you?” It figures, the man was probably well into his fourth or fifth drink and had called his son because of some sort of long lost sentiment.

 

            “Nah, don’t you worry about where your old man is. I’m at home.”

 

            “Right, of course.” Daniel slumped further against the door, talking to his dad always put a strain on him, made it harder to fend of his demons. It wasn’t made harder by the fact that the others where probably trying to listen in, or at the very least trying to deduce who he might be talking to.

 

            A heavy silence occupied the line as neither of them spoke.

 

            “So how have ya been? Missed me any?” A wave of exhaustion overtook him; he didn’t have the energy needed to keep up the conversation. Their last show was that night and the day had been long enough already,

 

            “Come on dad, we don’t do this. Why are you calling, really?” His father audibly swallowed on the other end of the line and Daniel knew he was about to come clean.

 

            “Listen, I’ve ah, I’ve run into a bit of trouble over here,” there it was, of course, it was always the same. _Hi how are you, do you still have that necklace of your mothers? Can you lend me a couple hundred? I’m short on rent. Eddie needs someone to pick his niece from the airport and I know your in the area, could you do it? I owe him a favor and it would really help me out_ , “and I was wondering if you could lend me some money?” His voice grew coarser and Daniel could only assume the alcohol was making him antsy.

 

            “For what?” Already he was calculating how much money he could reasonably give to his father without ruining the stable nature of his bank account that he had worked hard to achieve.

 

            “I just…I made a few bad calls is all and now I owe Samson a couple thousand.” There was a pause and he heard a load sigh, “I’m short twelve grand.”

 

            Daniel couldn’t help it he actually laughed at that, a harsh grating sound that sounded more mocking than amused. There was no way he could give his father that much money. He hadn’t exactly been making much while planning and executing the shows and, while they had been provided with money to carry everything out and had all chipped in for food, he didn’t exactly have a huge surplus in his account. Though, it was doubtful he could spare that much on a good day anyway.

 

            “There’s no way, I’m sorry but I can’t.” His voice was softer than it had been before, and he chewed his lip, “But dad, Samson? Really? It couldn’t have been anyone else?”

 

            His father’s voice lowered into almost a growl,

 

            “I know, do you think I don’t know? I know how bad it is. Fuck, do you think I would be calling you if I had to?” He wished he could say it didn’t sting, that he didn’t wince at his father’s words, but they still wormed their way under his skin making him hunch over and pull his sweater lower over his wrists.

 

            “Look I won’t bother you again for awhile, I’ll stay away from ya like I know you want me to, just _please_ , this is all I’m asking for.” The desperation caused his voice to crack and Daniel bit his lip in sympathy. He felt slightly nauseous. Samson was a bad egg, one of the worst, owing a debt to him was not something you wanted to do if you weren’t found of hospitals and bankruptcy.

 

            “I just don’t have it,” fatigue caused his bones to ache and he tilted his head back to rest on the solid rough surface of the door behind him, staring up at the chipping once white paint on the ceiling. “I want to help, I really do but I can’t afford it.” His voice was kinder than it had been when talking to his father in years, more compassionate than he would have thought possible.

 

            “Well what the fuck use are you then!” Came the bellowed reply. Fury laced his words and Daniel flinched back from his phone instinctually. “I mean… Jesus, you leave to find a ‘better life’ but you haven’t done shit, have you? I mean if you can’t even spot me a couple thousand— _me,_ the one that fucking raised you from fucking birth, then why did I keep you around all those years?” His voice grew louder with each word till Daniel had to hold the phone a little ways from his ear. He felt himself shrinking as his dad continued to scream into the phone. The familiar feeling of obligation pricked at his skin and he felt himself slipping back into the poisonous mindset he had carried as a teenager.

 

            “Dad,” his voice sounded small even to his own ears, “I guess I could help out, not with the whole thing but maybe with some-”

 

            His father cut him off, scratchy voice load and demanding in his ear,

 

            “You don’t get it, I need it now! Goddamn it, you were my last fucking resort!” Swallowing loudly his voice suddenly dropped into his familiar stern tone, “listen son, I’m sorry for all of this, I shouldn’t ‘ve bothered you.” The sluggishness in his voice was unlike anything Daniel had ever heard from the man and it sent a bolt of fear down his back.

 

            “Bye, son.” Abruptly the phone disconnected and he blinked, mouth still open with the question that had been on the tip of his tongue poised for release, _will you be all right?_ Shaking his head to clear it, he pushed down the feeling of unease that had slowly started to creep over him till it shrouded him like a cloak. He turned, shoving the phone into his pocket, and grabbing the cold metal of the door handle. Pausing for a moment he took a deep breath, thumping his forehead against the door and squeezing his eyes shut. He waited until he could easily call the smug expression he always wore to the surface, then twisted the knob to the right and pushed open the door.

 

            Henley leaned on the wall opposite him, obviously waiting for him to exit the bedroom. She wore a look of curiosity and caught his eyes as soon as he stepped through the doorway. Running his fingers through his hair he tore his eyes away from hers and turned towards the kitchen, he needed a good drink.

 

            “Daniel.” She was somehow kind and imposing at the same time and he sighed, waving his hand vaguely in her direction as he passed by Merritt and Jack in the living room who were both eyeing him oddly.

 

            Reaching the kitchen he opened the cabinet that he knew held the Jack Daniels that Merritt insisted on lugging around everywhere “just in case,” now he was grateful for the mentalist’s taste.

 

            “Daniel.” Her voice was decidedly less compassionate when she said his name the second time and he grimaced, reaching for the cleanest glass he could find and pouring a finger of the amber liquid into it. Setting the bottle down he turned to meet her intense stare. She frowned at him, arms crossed over her chest, hair falling loose over her shoulders in auburn waves.

 

            “Henley.” He said in his usual confident tone, meeting her gaze and swirling the whiskey around in his glass. Her gaze softened a bit as she looked at him, but her arms remained cross, her stance determined.

 

            “Who was that you were talking to?” She didn’t waver when she spoke and he raised his eyebrow, taking a long sip from his glass and relishing in the burn he felt slide down his throat.

 

            “I don’t see how that concerns you in the slightest.” She scoffed at him, throwing her hands in the air,

 

            “Danny, Jesus, I’ve never seen you act like that and I’ve known you for years!” Her eyes clouded over for a second and she shivered, “I’ve never heard your voice sound so cold.” Anger flared up in his gut and his hand tightened around his glass,

 

            “Well if you were ease dropping then you already know.” Glaring at her he drained his glass and slammed it on the counter making her flinch.

 

            “Come on Atlas, can’t you see that she’s worried about you?” Merritt appeared behind Henley’s left shoulder.  Scowling Daniel turned toward the counter behind him and picked up his glass, dropping it in the nearby sink, he couldn’t be bothered with it just then. “We’re so close to ending this thing, can’t have you screwing it up now.” Daniel’s shoulders tensed and he wheeled around to face Merritt just in time to see Henley elbow him in the ribs. “Ow, alright, alright.”

 

            Merritt looked right at him and, with as much sincerity as he had ever heard from the man, spoke, “we care about you man, even if you are a pain in the ass.” Daniel smiled chuckling. Even when he was being agreeable Merritt was still exasperating.

 

            “Listen, I appreciate the concern but really I’m fine, it was nothing. My dad just wanted a favor and…we’re not close so it was a bit awkward.” Despite the nods he received he could tell they knew he was hiding something. He wondered briefly if any of them ever thought about the fact that he never talked about his family. They had all shared stories about their pasts, from family dinners to school fights to how they first got into magic, it was hard not to grow close while spending almost every waking moment together for a year. Even Jack had shared stories about his childhood, opening up first about his family and siblings, who he was very close to, to what it was like growing up. Those stories would come out late at night when they were all solemn and having discussions about things that mattered void of jokes or ribs, an experience that was surprisingly common all things considered.

 

            During these talks Daniel would be the quietest, keeping his memories concerning his home life and getting by secret, only volunteering information about school or friends. He talked enough to ward off suspicion, but was selective with what he chose to say.  Through precision and a few small lies he was able to keep the idea they had of him, a pompous no doubt spoiled kid from a rich family, in tact. Perfecting his character had taken years but now it was second nature to slip into it, even when he met people he would likely never see again, the pretending was easier when it felt less like lying and more like living.

 

            Merritt nodded at him and jokingly raised a finger to his temple,

 

            “Let me guess, the classic: dad works all day and doesn’t pay attention to the kids scenario?” The sarcastic edge to his voice sounded a bit more questioning than usual and Daniel wondered if for once he was actually asking. Rolling his eyes he brushed past where Henley and him were still standing, heading towards the living room where Jack sat silently watching them.

 

            He had just sat down on the biggest of the chairs trying to get comfortable despite the lumpy hard cushions beneath him. When Henley cursed looking at her phone,

 

            “We have to go, the trains are running with major delays and we won’t stand a chance of making it there on time if we don’t head out now.” She looked up at him and he nodded, the irritation he felt echoed in the expression on her face.  Glancing at Jack he stood up,

 

            “Meet you after like we planned?” The dark haired boy nodded and gave him a thumbs up, rearranging himself on the couch so that he took up almost the entire thing. Daniel smiled ruefully wishing that he too could lie down and walked over to where Henley stood. At least he would have to focus on something else for a while and wouldn’t be able to think about his dad or Samson. Distraction was perhaps his favorite thing about magic, not only the misdirection necessary to preform interesting tricks but also the state of mind he was in. It was perhaps the only time when he let his mask slip when others were around and it was…freeing.


	2. Carry the World

            “The past cannot be cured.” – Queen Elizabeth

                                                                                                            ~

            The unbridled joy that was ripping through him radiated out from his skin and he smiled so wide he thought his lip might split. Henley’s hand was in his own still and she was laughing as he all but dragged her up the stairs to where their stuff was waiting in the apartment. All their hard work had finally, spectacularly paid off, and all of them were floating. They had made it, been accepted into the Eye. Daniel was too delighted to even worry about the implications of Rhodes being the one to initiate them.

 

            Taking the stairs two at a time Daniel could feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins. Somewhere bellow him he heard Jack’s load laugh and Merritt’s cackle. He could feel the warmth radiating from Henley behind him and everything felt surreal, it was perfect.

 

            Reaching the door he fumbled with drawing the key from his pocket with one hand and felt more than heard Henley chuckle. Grinning at her he placed the key in the lock, have listening to the sound of the tumblers falling into place and half staring at the warm glow emanating from Henley’s cheeks. She squeezed his hand as he opened the door and his eyes shone with pure bliss. Turning around to face the now open doorway he froze, tension instantly flooding his body and chilling his core. Henley, noticing the drastic change, stepped forward, nudging her way inside. Instantly she gasped, dropping her hand to cover her mouth.

 

            The small apartment had been thoroughly trashed. Their things, formally occupying one room, were strewn across the floor haphazardly. A deck of cards was scattered a few feet away from the tip of Daniel’s shoe, and a lone sock sat crinkled up next to the doorway.

 

            “God what happened?” Merritt, just arriving at the door with Jack close behind, echoed his thoughts and he shrugged. If Rhodes hadn’t promised him minutes before that the needn’t fear FBI interference, a feat he didn’t question no matter how suspicious of it he was, he would assume that the cops had raided the apartment. Now however he was unsure what to make of the state of their things. It was especially odd seeing as they weren’t in the space for long at all, in fact they were just getting their stuff so that they could leave and head to an address Rhodes had given them upon their arrival to the carousel.

 

            A noise from deeper within the small flat caused them all to still. It had sounded like a footstep. Again they heard the thump and Daniel took a small step back, attempting to push Henley out of the doorway.

 

            There was a small hallway in front of them containing two doors, the one to the bathroom and bedroom. One could see part of the kitchen from the hall, but in order to reach most of the living room you had to round the corner. The noise was coming from just out of sight around the corner at the end of the short hall.

 

            Glancing behind him he saw that Merritt was biting his lip and Jack was frowning, tense, with his hand deep in his pocket in a way which made Daniel think he would pull out a knife if there turned out to be a person still in their flat. Henley’s face was surprisingly blank although her eyes were darting back and forth, the only outward sign of her nervousness.

 

            The noise sounded again and Henley’s eyes widened causing Daniel to whip back around so quickly that his neck twinged in protest. A man had just rounded the corner. He was tall, with large muscled shoulders visible through his black windbreaker and dark hair cut short. A short stubby beard grew over sun kissed skin and his hazel eyes held nothing but cruelty. He snarled at them when he saw them, squaring his shoulders and drawing out a gun from the waistband of his jeans quickly in way that is only mastered through practice.

 

            Daniel, too busy taking in the man, didn’t even realize Jack was nudging up next to him until the man’s gun was pointed at the youngest.

 

            “Listen man, I don’t know what you’re looking for here but I can assure you, you won’t find it. We don’t have any drugs or money in the apartment, but if you leave now we won’t call the cops.” Daniel flicked his eyes over to Jack, surprised by how even his voice was. His hands were up in a placating gesture, palms out and flat.

 

            The man just looked the boy up and down before grunting and turning to point the gun at Daniel. Quickly, he threw his own hands up in the air, locking his eyes onto the man and ignoring the way he could feel Jack’s eyes boring into him.

 

            “Samson wants the money.” He was speaking directly to Daniel and he shuddered, quickly growing cold when he realized the severity of the situation. He tried to keep his voice even, hard as stone when he replied,

 

            “I don’t have it.” Two more sets of eyes drilled into him as Merritt and Henley realized who the man was talking to.

 

            Across from him the man just raised a black bushy eyebrow at him, snarling a little, that wasn’t an answer he was used to hearing. The click of the gun’s safety being turned off sounded sound in the tense air and Daniel swallowed, trying to look unperturbed.

 

            “It’s not my debt, I can’t pay it.” It was a little less powerful then he wanted it to be, but his voice didn’t waver and for that at least he was grateful. The man chuckled and drew something out of his pocket, throwing it towards him,

 

            “Now it is.” Catching the thing out of midair he had to fight not to throw up. Behind him he heard Henley gasp and Merritt gag, Jack looked like he was going to be sick next to him.

 

            In his hand he held a bloody stump of a finger. It was cold and rough, blood caked and dried where it used to attach to a hand and crimson drops sprinkled down its length. It was substantially long and Daniel assumed it must be a pointer finger, one of two that would have been taken from his father when it was made known that he couldn’t pay his debt. It was rare but he had heard of it happening, and judging by the finger in his hand, Samson meant business. Sometimes when someone couldn’t pay their debts they could transfer the misfortune onto someone else, but not before losing two fingers and most likely being beaten to a bloody pulp. The transfer wasn’t always permanent, if the other individual couldn’t pay either, they would be killed or maimed and the debt would transfer back to the original. Samson had used the method more often then he cared to remember and Daniel knew that he would have no qualms about killing both him and his father in search of the money he was owed.

 

            “Is he dead?” It was an appropriate question, if he was dead that would mean he couldn’t pay the debt and Daniel would have too, or risk pain coming to him and most likely his companions standing around him. If he wasn’t dead… well then Daniel was still responsible for paying the debt, but he could probably get away with paying the amount his father had been short.

 

            The man shook his head and Daniel let out a breath he hadn’t known he had been holding. No matter how much he hated the man, no matter how furious he was that he would pass the debt onto his only son, he didn’t want him dead. Nodding, he clutched the finger tighter in his hands.

 

            “How did you find me?” Daniel asked, half out of curiosity, half to buy more time. The man smiled, a shark like grin that was all teeth, and answered in a callous tone,

 

            “Your father wasn’t lying when he said he wasn’t calling from a bar.” The anger that had been simmering threatened to explode as he let the man’s words sink in. He had been planning this the whole time, had kept him on the line so that Samson’s goons could find him, it made sense now how they were able to get there so quickly and it made his blood boil. Clenching his jaw he cursed himself for falling for the old man’s tricks, he should have known he would try to pull one over on him.

 

            “How long do I have?” Rage still flowed through him and the question sounded harsher than he’d meant it to.

 

            “How long? Samson wants it now,” the goon’s grin turned monstrous, “but if you use that mouth I’ve heard so much about, I might rethink it.” Shame rose from the pit of his stomach and he was just barely able to keep himself from reddening. Instead he hardened his eyes and ignored the looks his friends wore on their faces.

 

            “Two days, I can have it for him by then.” He doubted the validity of the statement but he knew asking for longer would be pointless.

 

            The man just smirked and raised his eyebrows,

 

            “What’s gonna make that worth my while?” Daniel felt sick to his stomach but he smiled sweetly and tucked the finger into his back pocket while taking a step forward. He brushed past Jack, dipping his hand into the younger magician’s pocket and pulling out the knife he kept there. Sauntering over to where the man stood he flipped the knife open behind his back and smiled coyly before placing one hand lightly on the mans bicep and leaning in closer. He went up on his toes a bit so that he was almost as tall as the man, who was about an inch and a half taller than him, and licked his lips slowly. The man smirked at him, eyes hungry and Daniel smiled, pushing the man’s arm holding the gun down a little before bringing the knife in his hand up to rest underneath the man’s jugular in the blink of an eye.

 

            “Because if you don’t I’ll slit your throat.” He kept the smile on his face as he pressed the knife into the man’s skin, pricking it and causing a drop of blood to well to the surface, eventually making a slow trail down his neck. Out of the corner of his eye Daniel could see the astonishment on his friends faces. Their gazes felt heavy on his skin but he didn’t allow himself to get caught up on the ramifications of his actions, it was all about surviving the moment now. Fudging his way through it until he reached the other side, he was used to it, even if he hadn’t operated like that in years. It was why he cherished control, because he was so without it in situations like these. In this case it was purely a game of bluffing, who could pretend better.

 

            “And we both know that Samson won’t even blink, he’ll just send someone else and I’ll negotiate with them.” He leaned in a little closer to the man so that he was all but touching his ear, breath hitting his skin, “go on, make my day, refuse.” His stomach churned as he locked eyes with the man, smirking and hoping he couldn’t see through the front to the anxiety that was lurking right below the surface.

 

            Slowly, the man flicked the safety back on his gun, curved his arm back around to tuck it back into his waistband. His eyes stayed focused on Daniel as his arms went lax by his side, his eyes flashed darkly and he spoke with a voice full of suppressed anger,

 

            “You’ve got two days. We’ll contact you.” Daniel nodded and slowly lowered the knife from the other mans neck, taking a step back.

 

            The glare the man gave him was piercing and he had to fight hard to keep from shrinking back. Turning away from him the man stormed down the hallway, pushing past Jack Henley and Merritt and spitting in the doorway before grabbing the door and slamming it shut. Daniel flinched a little at the loud sound and listened, still poised with the knife gripped tightly in his hand, until he heard the sound of the man’s angry grumbling and footsteps faded away down the stairs. 

 

            Stepping back he felt his back hit the wall and slumped against it, taking a deep breath and massaging his temples, eyes firmly shut. It was silent for a moment, the creaking of the old building the only thing to be heard in the stale still air.

 

            “What the _fuck_?” Merritt was the first to break the silence, voice brisk and astonished. “Does someone want to explain to me what just happened?” Henley scoffed, her voice hard as diamonds when she spoke,

 

            “I don’t know Merritt, why don’t you ask Danny, he seems to know a lot of things that he hasn’t cared to share with us.” He flinched at her words and rubbed his hand down his face harshly, trying to summon the will to stand and face them; he supposed he owed them some form of explanation.

 

            “Henley, give him a break.” Jack’s voice was surprising calm and Daniel opened his eyes, catching the look the youngest wore on his face, one of worry.

 

            “You can’t be serious Jack! Did you see that just now? He almost fucking cut that mans throat!” Henley all but screamed the last past of her sentence, eyes blazing, finger pointing accusingly right at him. Slowly Daniel pushed himself up from his spot against the wall, groaning slightly.

 

            “I was never going to hurt him, it was just a matter of making him think that I would.” Henley rolled her eyes, attention now zeroed in on him,

 

            “Oh well in that case.” She stepped forward towards him hands clenching and unclenching at her sides.

 

            “Listen,” Daniel ran a hand through his hair and, realizing that the knife was still clenched tightly in his hand, flicked the blade closed, “I know that your upset, I would be too, and I promise I’ll explain, but I can’t do that if you’re screaming at me.” Henley studied him for a moment before folding her arms and nodding with grudging acceptance. Sighing Daniel turned and gestured vaguely over his shoulder for the others to follow.

 

            The living room was a mess; the couch was flipped on its back and the cushions strewn across the room. Items of clothing and random objects from their bags littered around the floor, the pitcher of water Henley had left on the kitchen counter had somehow made its way to the center of the floor, a large wet spot encircling it. Daniel gingerly picked his way through the mess, to weary to even begin to clean up the small space.

 

            Reaching the couch, he placed his hand on the edge, waiting for Merritt to grab the back before pushing down and righting the couch with a grunt. Grabbing the nearest cushion he dropped it onto one side and sank down exhaling smoothly. He watched as the others quietly went about finding places to sit, Merritt on the couch a little further down, Jack on a wooden chair that was looking a little wobbly, and Henley on the old recliner across the room from where Daniel himself sat. The chair had long sense stopped working and its lumpy cushions made it uncomfortable to sit on for long period of time.

 

            “So,” Merritt prompted his voice now returned to its normal snarky quality, “Danny boy you’ve got us on the edge of our seat, care to share?” One eyebrow raised Merritt leaned back a bit, one arm slung over the back of the couch, a little too focused in on Daniel for his seemingly careless demeanor.

 

            Taking a deep breath Daniel straightened a little in his seat, pulling the sleeves of his sweater down and trying to calm the furious beating of his heart.

 

            “I assume that you all now realize I’ve…omitted things when discussing my past.” Henley chuckled humorously,

 

            “More like you convinced us you were a different person.” Frowning Daniel cocked his head to the side and drummed his fingers against the arm of the couch,

 

            “Well, yes I suppose in a way I did but really, you just made assumptions based on the way I acted. Any ideas about my background were your own.”

 

            “Oh please, like you didn’t specifically design your actions in order to shape our opinions.” She spit back at him, her shoulders pushed back and her hands gripping the arms of the chair in a vice like grip. Wincing a little at the truth in her statement he blinked back at her, nodding tentatively as she huffed and sat back.

 

            “Look, I’m sorry for lying to you,” he looked away from her to meet first Jack’s eyes then Merritt’s, “all of you, but magic was always my escape and I thought,” he swallowed and flicked his eyes to his lap forcing the next words out of his mouth, “that you would all think less of me if you knew everything, or anything.” The silence that followed his words made him tense even further, refusing to look up from his lap. “I know you all have shared personal things with me, things that you find hard to talk about and please know that I didn’t keep this from you because I didn’t trust you.” Looking up he saw a clear question written on Henley’s face, in the crinkles of betrayal around her mouth and eyes, _why then?_ Before he had a chance to answer Merritt spoke up,

 

            “It’s because you haven’t made peace with it yourself.” It wasn’t a question and Daniel didn’t feel the need to answer, inclining his head a bit instead.

 

            “Normally I wouldn’t say this,” Jack’s said, his fingers fiddling with the hem of his t-shirt, “because I know what it’s like not being able to cope with yourself, but Daniel, we need to know. Not everything, not now, although you should talk to someone about it, but enough so that we can deal with whatever’s going on.” The tone of authority in his voice was nothing like Daniel had heard from him. He was obviously used to taking responsibility and acting quickly, traits that Daniel admired.

 

            Meeting Jack’s eyes Daniel gave him a small smile, reassuring him that he understood. He paused for a moment before beginning, separating himself as much as he could from the words he would say so as to avoid the hurt that came along with them.

 

            “I haven’t been close with my father in years, not since my mothered died when I was eight and probably even before then, so the only times I really talk to him anymore are when he calls me, usually drunk, asking for something.” He let his thoughts wander a bit to the last time he had seen his father, it had been a few years back when he had gone back home to visit a long time friend of his Andrew. His father had seen him at a small coffee shop through the dirty glass window and had refused to leave until he cajoled him into coming to dinner. It had been a disaster. His dad’s buddies had been there, an unsavory bunch of drunkards and addicts who were crass and bigoted on the best of days, and he had ended up sending the entire night refusing drugs, ignoring the comments they made about him and “people like him,” and drinking. He shook his head slightly dissipating the memory, clearing it from his mind.

 

            “This time when he called he wanted twelve thousand dollars.” He saw Merritt raise his eyebrows so high they almost disappeared into his hat and he had to stop the laugh that bubbled up from reaching his lips. “I told him I didn’t have the money and he got angry, saying that he needed it to pay Samson and that if I couldn’t give him the cash then what use had there been in keeping me around all those years.” His eyes darkened as a bolt of rage shot down his spine, “Even though I’m the one that kept us afloat, shit I-” He cut himself shaking his head and leaning his head into one of his hands. He saw Henley shoot Jack a look but he pretended not to notice.

 

            “Now he’s transferred the debt to me, that’s what the finger symbolized, and if I don’t pay it…let’s just say I need to find a way to pay it.” Adjusting his posture Daniel felt a lump in the back of his pocket and froze. The finger, he had totally forgotten, too caught up in the events of the past few minutes to remember that he had stuck it there. Quickly he scrambled to pull it from his pocket, dropping it on the ground like it had burned him. Bringing the back of his hand to his mouth he shut his eyes, trying to keep from puking. Breathing deeply through his nose he slowly lowered his hand, eyes fluttering open and shifting to focus on his knees.

 

            “If no one else is going to ask I will, how are you planning on getting the money?” Merritt’s sounded wary like he honestly didn’t know what the answer might be. Daniel frowned, pushing down the last of the sickness that threatened to spill from his mouth, and looked up.

 

            “I have about six grand in the bank that I can withdraw. As for the other six,” he tapped at his thigh, creating an erratic rhythm that matched nervous twitches running through his body, “I’m going to call in a hell of a lot of favors and do as many odd jobs as I can find.”

 

            “And when you say odd jobs you mean…” Daniel smirked sadly and shook his head leaning back to look up at the ceiling and the odd yellow stain that ended right above where he was sitting.  “I don’t wanna know, gotcha.”

 

            “What, you’re both okay with that answer?” Henley was almost standing, hovering over the edge of her seat using her forearms to push herself up off the cushion. Jack glanced at her nodding and Merritt narrowed his eyes somewhat as he dipped his head forward. “Well I’m not! God Danny, It’s like there’s this whole other side to you now, like you’re a completely different person. I mean putting knives to peoples necks that’s something the Danny I know would never do.” Daniel felt his hands clenching into fists,

 

            “Don’t you get it? That was the point Henley, to be someone who didn’t do the things, wouldn’t dream of doing the things, I had to in order to survive.” Henley shrank back with his retort; maybe it was from the resentment she heard in his words or the words themselves, at this point he was beyond caring.

 

            Sighing Daniel pressed his palms against the couch, “I get it if you guys don’t want anything to do with me anymore, I’ll help you clean this mess up and after that you won’t have to worry. I’ll call Rhodes and explain the whole thing to him.” He tried to silence the voice in his head that reminded him he could get kicked out of the Eye, he didn’t need more to worry about.

 

            The sound of Henley laughing, a dry tinkling sound drew his eyes up to meet hers,

 

            “You’re crazy if you think I’m letting you go that easily, you knows what’ll happen to you if I’m not there to watch your back.” His eyes widened at her words, he had expected her to be the first to go and, even though it would have torn at his heart, he would have let her. He may have just gotten her back but that in no way entitled him to her, he had learned that the hard way, and Merritt’s relentless flirting had helped to hammer the message home.

 

            “Yeah Atlas, you can’t get rid of us that easily.” Merritt smiled at him, not his obnoxious I’m-better-than-you smile, a real one. He felt the corner of his mouth tick up in response and he cast his eyes over to where Jack sat. The grin he received from him somehow lifted a weight from his shoulders he hadn’t known was there in the first place. Nodding to no one in particular Daniel watched as Henley stood up,

 

            “This place is a sty.” She looked pointedly at Merritt who immediately stood up, followed by Jack and then Daniel who was still a bit cautious; he didn’t want to ruin the agreement they seemed to have struck. 

 

            Jack picked up a sock and tentatively smelled it before throwing it at Merritt and pinching his nose closed,

 

            “That’s yours.” The disgust was clear in his voice and Merritt rolled his eyes, crumpling the sock up and shoving it into his back pocket,

 

            “Ha ha very funny, just wait till I find one of your dirty shirts.” Jack raised his eyebrow at Merritt, issuing a challenge and Henley, bending down and grabbing a hairbrush, proceeded to throw it at Merritt. The mentalist scoffed,

 

            “Now that’s just mean.” Henley giggled and Jack grinned. He looked over at Daniel and nodded kindly. Daniel felt a rush of gratitude towards the young man, he certainty was an expert at defusing tension.

 

            Smiling, Daniel bent over to grab the pitcher still on the center of the floor, and allowed his shoulders to relax. They may not know everything but for now it was enough, and for that he was thankful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed, more coming soon. Comments, kudos, criticisms, suggestions, everything is appreciated!


	3. Last resorts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things deteriorate as Daniel tries desperately to get the money he needs, and Jack well...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so this took me an embarrassingly long time to write, dont ever try to wrote four things at once kids, you'll get nothing done. I may have gotten carried away. Also it's gay now...yeah. It wasn't intentional but it just sorta happened, but with me I guess that's not surprising. Anyway hope this is acceptable, it's certainly filled with angst (a.k.a my betas hate me)

            In retrospect, it probably wasn’t a good idea for Daniel to go to the South Bronx at 1:30 am. It was one of the remaining seedy parts of New York, a place that had yet to be gentrified and still held the dangers of the old NYC. He had grown up in Atlanta City, so he knew how to handle himself, but walking the streets in his upscale clothes, without a weapon, and without the recognition he received around where he had grown up made him…uneasy.

 

            He hunched in on himself a little, pulling his black coat further around his shoulders and hurrying down the block towards Martie’s. He had committed the address, as well as how to get there from the train, to memory. Having the bright light of his iPhone on display would be too conspicuous, make him look like a clueless tourist. The place he had been told to go by the woman on the phone, Rags, apparently, was a bar. A quick Google search had shown nothing remarkable, only its location and a few mixed reviews on Yelp. The restaurant had never been reported on but that did nothing to ease Daniel’s nerves. Innocuous didn’t always mean guiltless in areas like these, often just the opposite.

 

            Daniel slowed as he approached the bar, discreetly glancing around to see if anyone was watching. The street was deserted save for a few stragglers stumbling around, presumably drunk from a couple beers too many. Stopping, Daniel eyed the building, scrutinizing every detail. The outside was simple, a brick base that gave way too a set of windows with wooden frames and a dark metal door. The name was printed in screwed-on, once-white plastic letters to the top of the building, offsetting the dark of the wood. It was a little shabby, the windows dirty and stains littering the surface of the block print letters, but not so much as to be called run down. The sounds of loud talking and of something shattering could be heard though the thick glass of the windows, the neon open sign casting a bright light onto the sidewalk. The P in the sign flickered, its pulsating pink catching Daniel’s eye and making him pause for a moment. He took a few long steps to the door and breathed deeply, mentally preparing himself for whatever awaited him inside the bar. Placing his hand on the cold metal of the door, he gave it a hard push and entered the small bar quickly, catching the door with his hand so that it didn’t slam into the wall.

 

            There weren’t many customers; a few littering the booths around the bar and one slumped over on a barstool. A small TV was playing silently, washing the drunken man on the stool in multicolored lights. The bartender was glaring at the man’s hunched over form as he picked up shards of glass from the counter, using a cloth to wipe up the rapidly drying amber liquid.

 

            Walking up to the bar, Daniel rapped his knuckles on the wooden counter, attempting to get the bartender’s attention. The bartender was broad-shouldered and tall, with muscled arms and a sharp gaze. He looked better suited to be a bouncer. Impatiently, he grunted and waved his hand vaguely in Daniel’s direction, obviously preoccupied with the spill. Daniel sighed and sat down on one of the slightly sticky stools, drumming his fingers on the counter and tapping his foot on the metal rung of the stool peevishly.

 

            The barkeep took his time, pointedly disregarding Daniel in favor of methodically wiping at the alcohol and glass shards strewn around the passed out customer. In a booth not too far away from where he was sitting, two people sat hunched over, heads towards each other. Daniel tried to hear what they were saying but he could only make out the occasional laugh through their murmured whispers. Giving up, Daniel scanned the rest of the bar, eyes landing on the only other patron, a figure near the back sitting alone at a table, a pint a Guinness half-finished in front of them. Squinting, Daniel tried to make out their face through the bar’s haze but all he could see was a pair of thick eyebrows.

 

            “What’d ya want?” A deep curt voice had Daniel wheeling his head around to look at the rather bored bartender; his nametag read Dameon, who was staring at him. Clearing his throat, Daniel snatched his hand off the counter and settled it onto his lap, somewhat unnerved by the calculating look that Dameon was giving him.

 

            “I’m here to see Rags.” He tried his best to sound tough and intimidating, hardening his voice and lowering it an octave. Internally he winced, glad that no one he knew was watching. Dameon paused; his eyebrows rising a bit as he slowly raked his gaze over Daniel, as if determining his worth. Finally he grunted again and jerked his head towards the back of the bar, pulling up the moveable wooden entrance to behind the counter and making his way out from behind the bar. Daniel stood and followed a few steps behind the taller man, watching the other customers who didn’t so much as glance in his direction.

 

            Dameon led him back towards the bathroom and Daniel waited as he pulled back a black curtain opposite the door to the restrooms and inputted a string of numbers into the number lock on the door handle, not-so-subtly blocking Daniel’s view. A beep sounded and the door was pushed open, Dameon stepping aside to allow Daniel through. As he stepped past him, Daniel glanced at the man warily, not entirely sure he wouldn’t attack him as soon as he lowered his guard.

 

            The room Daniel walked into was relatively small, with no windows and one other door on the farthest wall. There was table in the center, a plain, cherry brown circular table with four chairs around it. A small desk with neatly-stacked piles of papers sat opposite the door. A lamp sat atop it, turned on and helping to illuminate the dim room. An overhead light flickered faintly, but Daniel could see no switches on the walls. The wallpaper was bordering on hideous, with dark muted flowers over a beige base. It was old, must have been put up years ago judging by the layers of grim and the outdated style. The ceiling was surprisingly unsoiled, clean white paint that was neither cracking nor peeling, it was perhaps the nicest part of the room.

 

            Daniel felt a hand at his back as he was shoved forcibly into the room, the door clicking twice as it shut and locked behind him. He whirled around grabbing the dull chrome handle and giving it a twist, just to check if the door was actually locked, and let out a huff of air when it wouldn’t budge.

 

            The _thump_ of a door shutting caused him to jump and he turned quickly, surprised to see the figure of a girl leaning casually against the wall. She grinned at him, something predatory in her eyes flashing, making her look like the Cheshire cat. The hairs on the back of his neck rose but he remained still, suspicious. Gesturing to the table and the chairs around it she quirked her eyebrow and he took the bait, steeping forward and making his way over to the closest chair. She watched him expectantly as he sank into his seat, leaning against the wooden backing. Her black hair was cut short, small curls growing about a quarter of an inch away from her scalp. The deep blue nail polish on her short perfectly filed fingernails complemented her dark skin, the color of damp tree bark, beautifully. She wore skintight blue jeans, a bomber jacket and sloppily tied combat boots with an elegance and confidence that was striking.

 

            “I’m guessing your Rags then?” He said in his most self-assured I’m-a-cocky-bastard voice. The corner of her mouth twitched up in a smirk and she nodded, pushing herself off the wall and strolling towards the chair directly across from Daniel.

 

            “At your service.” Grabbing the back of one of the chairs she spun it towards her effortlessly, eyes never leaving his. Sitting down she leaned forward, forearms resting on the back of the chair, legs straddling the seat with a grace that spoke of practice. Gazing into the mud brown pools of her eyes was mesmerizing and he found himself unable to look away, only snapping out of it when she spoke. “I didn’t expect to see you here quite this fast,” she cocked her head, “you must be really desperate.” Daniel scowled and opened his mouth to respond when a buzzing in his pocket interrupted him. Fishing out his phone he didn’t even bother looking at the screen before holding the power down button and shutting the phone off. Jack had already called him seven times over the past hour and sent him several texts. Out of sympathy, and to dispel any worries for his safety he had replied saying he was fine, that he was going to work a job. Jack had seemed to grow even more restless after that, texting him back in all caps and even getting a drunk Henley to call him.

 

            “Just…” he sighed and scrubbed his hand over his face, too tired for this conversation. He felt himself start to deflate, to collapse in on himself from the stress and pressure of the day. Across the table he could tell, even without looking, that Rags was enjoying this. Setting his jaw he hardened, preparing himself for whatever was to come. Plastering a smirk on his face he looked up, eyes flashing, “Desperation’s good, means I’m more likely to agree to whatever you propose. You should count yourself lucky.” Rags just stared at him, searching his face for a moment before nodding and scratching her nose absentmindedly.

 

            “That’s true, but it also makes you dangerous because your willing to do things others won’t.” She grinned then, almost manically, “But where’s the fun in life if you don’t take risks right?” Leaning forward she stuck her hand across the table, wiggling her fingers at him, “So what’a you say?”

 

            He stared at her skeptically, most didn’t perform business like this and he wasn’t sure if it was a trick, something to test his worth. Would he be reckless and agree to anything? Or would he hold out, hear the terms? Usually, Daniel prided himself on being level headed, able to think through situations and plan the appropriate response. This, however, wasn’t usually. He didn’t have any other options; there was no other bargaining chip. The real question was, did he let her know that or did he hold back.

 

            Quirking his mouth up at the corner he leaned away from her, looking pointedly at her face. Her grin, strangely, widened.

 

            “You realize you have no leverage,” she withdrew her hand, “You just refused me and you have nothing to offer. You’re bluffing, visibly.” Daniel, deciding he would let her draw her own conclusions, didn’t move, didn’t let his face display his desperation. She chuckled, “Alright then,” she studied him for a moment more, he was starting to get used to the way her eyes seemed to bore into him, “You’re hired. I like a man who has a good poker face.” Daniel didn’t allow himself to smile, but he did let his shoulders relax a fraction.

 

            “Job’s pretty simple really. I have a client who wants some, lets say arm candy, for the evening. You’re it.” The tension that had leaked out of his shoulders was back in an instant as his whole body clenched; he knew what she was suggesting and there was no way. He wouldn’t do it again, ever. Before he could protest Rags held up her hand, “Now don’t worry, I know how touchy you are about these things, you’re not there to sleep with him, you’re there to kill him.”

 

            Rags gripped the back of her chair as she leaned away from him, smirking contentedly and clicking her heel against the side the table. She shrugged, as if she hadn’t just proposed murder, “I have another, higher paying client, who wants that man dead. I usually use Dameon for jobs like these but I figured, you aren’t going to cross me, not when so much rides on this for you.” Daniel hated himself a little more when he asked,

 

            “How much?” She didn’t even have the decency to look surprised,

 

            “For you? $6,000 even.” He bite his tongue because he knew she was bullshitting him, he could have made more. It was two jobs, technically, and hiring a hitman isn’t cheap. He should have asked for more, he _needed_ to ask for more, because after this he was cleaned out, he would have nothing. Jesus fuck, he shouldn’t even have been considering it. He had never done anything like it before, even with all the terrible shit in his life, it had never come to that, to murder. Sure there had been self-defense, but he was pretty sure none of those had even been fatal. Part of him, what he hoped was the real part, called for him to turn away damn the consequences, but another part whispered at him to do it. It was his old instincts picking up again, survive and damn the consequences, it’s you or them and it has to be you.

 

            “Oh come on, don’t tell me you’d rather let some rich white prick with a bounty on his head sit on his fat ass stuffing his face with caviar, then stay alive.” She scoffed, “Or maybe that’s exactly what you want, you seem to be trying hard enough to cultivate that image.” Daniel was able to hold himself back from spitting some acidic response at her, but just barely. Instead, he clenched his teeth and gave her an apathetic stare. She sighed, “Look, Samson doesn’t play around, you know that. He’s gonna kill you if you don’t give him this money. He’s had enough of your father, might kill him just for the hell of it. I know you don’t want this shit getting passed down to your friends, those magicians.”’

 

            It took an embarrassingly short time for Daniel to break, for him to agree to kill the mark. But maybe that was how it was meant to be, maybe he was never meant to get out, not really. It seemed like he would always be stuck in the hell of his childhood, no matter how many designer sweaters he donned or how much he pretended.

 

            By the time he left the bar it was a little past 2 and he had got a dozen more notifications. Most of them were from Jack but a few were from Henley and Merritt. He called Jack back, not because he wanted to, but because he had to tell someone and Jack was the only person in their group who might understand him. Calling Merritt, or worse, Henley… he winced just thinking about it. They might find out, even though he would try to keep this, at least, from them, but he couldn’t think about that or he would stop.

 

            “Daniel, thank God.” Jack sounded panicked on the other end of the line and it struck Daniel suddenly that he could have been taken by Samson’s men, that he could of disappeared and never come back; guilt stabbed him hard in the gut.

 

            “Jack, hey, listen, I’m gonna do a job tomorrow evening. I need you to keep the others out of the way.” The crackling pause on the other end of the line made Daniel’s heart sink.

 

            “What’s the job?” Jack didn’t sound nearly as upset as Daniel thought he would, but perhaps that was just the illusionist projecting.

 

            “It doesn’t matter, it will get me the money.” He was almost back to their apartment so he took the longer route; he wanted to delay his arrival for as long as possible.

 

            “Danny, whatever can get you that much money that quickly has got to be bad, real bad. I can’t let you do this.” He was getting angry, his voice sounded a little harder over the phone, but so was Daniel. He was practically fuming.

 

            “You’re not Henley, you don’t have to nag me like her.” He was tired, voice cracking a bit. Annoyance shot through him like a whip and he raked his hands through his hair hard enough to hurt, “I have to do this. There’s no other way.” There was a laugh on the other end of the line, bitter and bordering on hysterical. He’d forgotten that Jack was tired too; that Jack had had a stressful day too, that Jack wasn’t immune to emotional manipulation.

 

            “Tell me, why you aren’t on the phone with Henley? Why do you want me to keep this from her? I thought you two were ‘meant to be.’” Daniel could practically taste Jack’s disdain, it was undercut with anger and doubt and something else that sounded a lot like jealousy. It made Daniel falter. He hadn’t even thought about it really, it just seemed natural to go to Jack with all of it. He didn’t trust Henley with it and that was… troubling. It didn’t bode well for their relationship. But Daniel hadn’t exactly had time to process their relationship lately, with the excitement of winning, of making it, of having to deal with his dad’s debt, he just hadn’t had the emotional capacity for it. It had seemed right at the time, get back with the girl who he had crushed on for years, who he had resented leaving him. But now, now he wasn’t so sure.

 

            When he spoke again he was humbler, more subdued. He felt his lack of sleep start to catch up to him.

 

            “Please Jack, I just, please. I can’t do this, what I have to do tomorrow, unless I know they won’t find out. I’ll hardly be able to live with myself regardless.” Suddenly, he regretted having the conversation over the phone. It had felt necessary earlier, a safety blanket that he could hide behind, but it was just impersonal. He wanted to see Jack’s eyes so he could gage the reaction of the younger man. He had reached the apartment now and he climbed the stares quickly, trying to ignore his pounding heart.

 

            “Okay, Jesus, okay. Just come back to the apartment, get some sleep. We can talk more in the morning.” Right outside the door to the apartment Daniel paused, Jack’s words stirred something in him and suddenly he felt like breaking down. He wanted to tear apart his clothes, demolish the building, smash his phone, and he wanted a hug. An embrace of forgiveness, acceptance and understanding that would allow him to forget about the stress of the debt, if only for a minute or two. Instead, he tapped his index finger against his thigh three times, straightened his back, and pulled the key from his pocket, fitting it into the lock of the door.

 

            “Yeah, okay.”

           

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            When Daniel woke up the next morning the sun is just above the horizon, the sky awash in beauty. Reds, pinks, oranges, and a tinge of purple, all of them bled together, their edges blurring. If Daniel was one to get sentimental about the sunrise he might have paused for a moment or two. As it was, he only barely glanced at it, somewhat guiltily, as if the beauty of the day wasn’t something he deserved, especially not anymore.

 

            The sound of a glass hitting the counter behind him jarred him into action and he lifted his own mug of coffee to his lips, turning to study Jack. The younger magician looked much better than he did the night before, even with a measly 4 hours of sleep. He had his pajamas on, cotton shirt and loose sweats, hair rumpled with a slight cowlick. Daniel had to quell the urge to run his fingers through the other’s hair to smooth it.

 

            He sipped his coffee as they considered each other for a moment, the sounds of the city, awake even that early, filtered in around them making it far from quiet. The apartment creaked around them.

 

            “So,” Jack spoke first, voice a little hoarse, Adam’s apple bobbing as he took a drink from his own mug. Maybe he wasn’t as well rested as Daniel had initially assumed. “You even gonna bother telling me what the job is or do you want me to guess?” Daniel raised his eyebrow slightly, never one to drop the persona he’d worked so meticulously on for years. He needed the comfort of familiarity, of routine, now more than ever.

 

            “No?” Maybe it should hurt that Daniel could practically feel the disappointment rolling off of him, maybe it hurt a little that he wasn’t even surprised. “Fine, what is it then, running drugs, hired muscle,” he eyed Daniel a bit at that, seemed to find it amusing, “prostitution?” Daniel stiffened and Jack must have interpreted that as acquiescence because he stopped and nodded to himself. Nervously Daniel ran his pointer finger around the rim of his mug, focusing on the feeling of the ceramic against his skin as opposed to the eyes boring into him. “And you’re getting how much for it?”

 

            “All of it.” That seems to give him pause, startled him into putting his coffee down, a bit sloshing over the rim. Daniel watched him, waiting for a judgment of some sort, almost craving it. If it were Merritt there’d be a joke about his worth, _only six thousand? Those long fingers have to be good for something,_ if it were Henley it’d be a disdainful chuckle followed by some sort of lecture that succeeded in both guilt tripping him, angering him, and soothing him. She always had a knack for getting him riled up, an angel with a devil’s tongue. But Jack, Jack just watched him for a moment before calmly taking a slurp from his cup and wiping up the spilled coffee with the palm of his unoccupied hand. He succeeded more in smearing it around than anything else, but he knew how much Daniel hated messes and he was trying, so that was something.

 

            “I have to be on the Upper East Side 11 for lunch.” He’d received a text from a blocked number at three am with further instructions, they were vague, but they were enough, a time, an address, and the instructions to dress nice and keep from getting caught. Though, of course, Daniel had intentions of going to the dinner party he had been hired for. There would be too many witnesses there; Rags had made it clear that he should kill the man before the party if he wanted to get away with it.

 

            “Really.” Jack sounded incredulous and Daniel tried to put some genuine feeing into the smile that he plastered onto his face.

 

            “I have to lay out my, terms for the evening, get a sense of what he wants. It’s certainly a lot of money.” It was nowhere near enough for what he had to do but he was in no position to complain. “Which reminds me,” he took a deep breath and tried to keep his voice steady, “I’m going to need you to pick me up after, I doubt I’ll be in a good state of mind to take public transport home.” Fuck if that wasn’t true. As much as he wished he could do this alone, he wasn’t arrogant enough to assume that he would be in a stable emotional state and would be able to get back safely.

 

            Jack seemed as disturbed by the notion as Daniel was himself, eyes widening, hands tightening around his cup, studying the table fiercely. His youth showed then and guilt washed over Daniel, he shouldn’t ask this of him. Maybe enduring one of the two other horsemen was a better idea because Jack may not have had much youth left, but he had some, and Daniel didn’t want to be the one responsible for robbing him of it. Just as he opened his mouth to take it back, he could probably call a cab, cabbie would probably think he’s tweaked out or something but if that’s what it took-

 

            “Fine, where?” Daniel studied the Jack; he must have seen Daniel reconsidering. Was the kid getting better at reading him or he was just loosing his touch? Either way he would have to get vamp up the act if he wanted to keep some anonymity after that night.

 

            Waving his hand dismissively Daniel turned to look at the sunrise again, the colors had started to fade somewhat, growing more like watercolor painting as opposed to the bright pastels of color that had tainted the sky only minutes before.

 

            “Unimportant, I’ll text you the address when I’m sure of where we’ll be meeting.” Even though Daniel could only see Jack out of the corner of his eye he could tell he was fuming. The man was practically smoking he was so angry, but then they locked eyes and all that the tension was leaving Jack’s shoulders and he was pursing his lips grimly. Daniel swallowed and looked away first; the coffee combined with the lack of sleep was making him jittery.

 

            “So what are you doing all day then, why do you need me to keep them occupied?” By them, of course, he meant Henley and Merritt and as much as Daniel wanted to dismiss the question he knew he couldn’t, Jack was doing him a hell of a lot of favors and he couldn’t expect complete compliance without some information. After all, Jack’s idol worship had mostly faded over the year, only making the occasional appearance now and again.

 

            “Preparing.” He left it at that, took a sip of his lukewarm coffee, and allowed Jack to make of that what he would. It was not a lie exactly, Daniel would be preparing. Reviewing the little fighting skills he knew, getting reacquainted with the weight of a knife, staking out the house, try to ignore what he had to do, work on his compartmentalization.

 

            Jack just nodded, more resigned. The coffee didn’t seem to be working for him, he looked exhausted, more so than he did before. Nodding to himself, Daniel drummed his nails against the side of the mug, the clinking helping to settle his nerves. Jack pushed himself up off the counter and started to make his way over the couch and Daniel watched him, only pausing for a moment before reaching out and grabbing his shoulder.

 

            “Thank you, Jack.” He let his arrogant persona fall away for a second, let the younger man see the gratitude written sincerely in the crinkles of skin around his eyes, in the set of his jaw. The smile Jack sent his way was almost too bright, too honest, for the early hour.

 

 

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            The mark, Jonathan Von Hof, seemed like an arrogant prick. The cafe he chose was predictably ritzy. Some upscale Italian place in the West Village where the macaroons were eight dollars apiece and all the names on the menu were in looping script. He was an older gentleman with a potbelly, graying hair, and prominent brows. His voice had a certain snobbish quality that made Daniel a very particular type of irritated, after all the man was having lunch with someone who he was attempting to hire for the evening.

 

            “So Mr. Von Hof,” Daniel’s voice was a mix of amusement and arrogance. If he was going to play the part of a high-class escort then he was going to have some fun at the very least. “Care to lay out the particulars of the evening?” The café wasn’t particularly crowded which was good, and no one was looking at them oddly. After all, Daniel thought to himself rather bitterly, they blended in, Von Hof in slacks and a button up, Daniel himself in a thick designer sweater and black jeans.

 

            Von Hof didn’t stumble as he answered and the way he met Daniel’s stare head on spoke of experience,

 

            “Well the diner starts at seven and I plan to be there by seven thirty. We will be leaving at around ten, or whenever the host gets embarrassingly drunk and his wife ushers everyone home. No telling which one will come first. Charming couple, truly.” He sneered as he spoke and Daniel liked him just a bit less for that. Jealously didn’t suit the man. “Then it’s back to my apartment for the after party, that is if you consent of course.” He was leering, eyes practically devouring him and Daniel smirked, leaning forward an inch.

 

            “That depends on what exactly you’re implying.” Daniel tapped one finger against the knuckles of Von Hof’s left hand and raised an eyebrow. “I’d love if you could share the _specifics_.” He said it sweetly enough but allowed some fire into his eyes, enough that Von Hof seemed genuinely surprised. Daniel realized, perhaps a second too late, that letting any aggression show might put Von Hof off. The man probably went for the meek type and any push back could scare him away. Surprisingly, Von Hof’s pupils dilated a bit and he shifted. Running his finger over the larger mans knuckles a second time Daniel used his nail to dig into the flesh a bit, smirk widening. “Well?” It was sickening really, how easily he slid back into that role. Almost like he shed his skin and what lay underneath was a slimy disgusting creature, squirming and begging for attention. Daniel watched as Von Hof swallowed, noticeably, and he beat the fingers of his other hand on the table impatiently. Von Hof’s breath caught and he cleared his throat hurriedly,

 

            “I usually improvise?” He sounded more like he was asking a question than stating his preferences and Daniel had to force himself to keep a straight face. Von Hof had fallen for the trap; it would be painfully easy to get the necessary information now.

 

            “Alright well I don’t do bondage, you can’t leave any lasting marks.” Eyeing Von Hof a bit Daniel leaned forward, “Same doesn’t go for you of course. I could come over now if you want, leave you tied up all day, gasping, desperate,” Von Hof was starting to breath a little heavier, “You would have to cover up the marks with your suit, no one would know but me.” Von Hof’s jaw clinked shut. The statement hung in the air for a moment before he responded.

 

            “I c-can’t. I have meetings until four, I probably won’t get back until around five.” He looked genuinely disappointed and Daniel worked with it, leaning back and shrugging.

 

            “It’s your money. Besides, we still have all night.” Daniel raked his eyes over the man calculating, Von Hof gulped, reaching for his glass of water and guzzling it down. Daniel eyed him, amused and waited a moment for Von Hof to regain some of his dignity before standing and patting the man on the shoulder.

 

            “I’ll see you tonight.” Daniel threw one last smirk over his shoulder catching Von Hof’s startled smile, before pushing open the door to the café. He waited until he was several blocks away before slumping over and leaning against the nearest wall, the metal of a tall and gleaming office building. A layer of skin seemed to melt off of him, part of the act dripping away. It was draining, having to preform constantly and Daniel felt himself longing for the next day. Still, the meeting had been fruitful; he would lie in wait in Von Hof’s apartment until the man returned from work.

 

            Sighing, Daniel pushed himself off the wall and slipped his hand into his pocket, turning his phone round and round nervously. Now all that was left was to find his weapon and wait.

 

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            It was laughably easy to break into Von Hof’s apartment, a year of sneaking around and pulling off fantastical crimes had made breaking and entering almost mundane. There was no thrill, just business, going through the motions. It was numbing and provided a sufficient distraction. Ruffing up the place, breaking things, stuffing some valuables into a sack, to make the place look like a robbery gone bad, only took another half hour. When it was all done, Daniel’s watch read fifteen minutes past three, there were still two hours before Von Hof would arrive.

 

            Jack must have been doing his job because Daniel had received no texts or calls from any of the horseman all day. He would have to ask the kid about his methods because it was an impressive feat. (If it were him, Merritt would have disobeyed at least once by this point on principle.) The hangovers probably helped, people were more pliable when they were hungover. It was good, he was glad he didn’t have to deal with any other problems, but at the same time he could use the distraction. Sitting around in Von Hof’s was doing nothing for him nerves. His mind seemed to be going a mile a minute, brain flitting from one thought to the next. He was hyper aware, every noise in the rooms around him caused him to tense up, made him want to bolt. On his right knee his fingers tapped out a staccato beat.

 

            The knife, medium length and sharp enough to draw blood with only the slightest touch, rested next to him on the sofa. It was from the set inn the kitchen and he had sharpened it himself. Even without looking at it he could feel it, like it was radiating heat, or whispering. He felt like he was going insane, waiting endlessly in the expensively furnished living room. Trying to focus his energy he forced himself to take stock of the room, again. One lamp, one small table, a painting, ripped and flung halfway across the room, seven books strewn across the plush grey carpet.

 

            The harsh ringing of his phone made him jump, hand jumping to the knife and nicking his thumb. Cursing under his breath Daniel scowled, stuffing his thumb into his mouth and sucking off the blood while fumbling his phone out of his pocket. Jack’s number lit up the screen and his frown deepened for a moment before he accepted the call.

 

            “Hey.” Daniel winced; he didn’t realize how shaky he was until he heard his own voice. He was whispering, as having someone overhear him at this stage would be sloppy. Even during the “robbery” he had been virtually noiseless, a murder and a robbery couldn’t occur hours apart after all.

 

            “Danny,” Jack’s voice was filled with worry and he paused for a moment as if he wanted to say something more, “I- you’ve been gone all day. They’re starting to ask questions. I don’t know how much longer I can keep them off your back.” It goes unspoken but Daniel could tell that Jack was trying to hint at his concern without making the older magician angry. He appreciated the thought but the way his skin was prickling, the way his knee was bouncing erratically, it wasn’t making much of a difference. He was angry anyway.

 

            “You won’t have to for much longer, it’s almost done.” Glancing at his watch Daniel blinked, it was half past four. Where had the time gone? It was worrying, to say the least, that he had been so far in his own head that minutes had felt like seconds. He had gotten lost in his own brain for too long, he had to watch himself from now on. Allowing another time slip of the same magnitude would be a mistake. “I’ve only got a little over an hour left.”

 

            “Jesus, you’re there right now?” Jack sounded alarmed it took a few seconds before Daniel realized Jack thought he was in the middle of prostituting himself. It took a surprisingly small amount of effort for him to swallow his pride and keep up the front.

 

            “Don’t be stupid, Jack. Look, can you be here close to five, I’ll send you the address.” The bite in his voice was mostly faked, but the undercurrent of annoyance was all too real. A noise outside the door made him go rigid, breath going shallow until he heard a different apartment door open and close.

 

            “Yeah. Yeah. I’ll stash Henley and Merritt here and head over.” Jack sounded resigned and even though that made worry shot through him, Daniel pushed it to the side, bigger fish.

 

            “Thanks,” it came out as a sigh and Daniel felt himself sag against the back of the couch. Jack snorted on the other end of the line,

 

            “Been saying that a lot lately. Be there soon Danny.” It was odd, how Jack seemed both cynical and enthusiastic at the same time. Kind of endearing. Daniel shook his head and cracked his knuckles fretfully. The mask over his face was starting to itch, the gloves on his hands starting to suffocate him, and the longer he waited in the silence, the more anxious he got. His nerves felt as though they were singing beneath his skin and he pushed himself up and started to pace. Picking up the knife he twirled it in his hands, flipping it back and forth as though it were no more harmful than a stick.

 

            Footsteps outside the door caught his attention and he paused, listening intently. A key slid into the lock of the door and Daniel sprang into action, grabbing his bag and striding over to the door quickly. He stood just off to the side of the door so when Von Hof came in he wouldn’t see Daniel at first, just the apartment.

 

            The doorknob turned and Daniel had to force himself to breath as Von Hof stepped into the apartment. It took a moment for Von Hof to register the state of his flat and he steeped further into the living room. His shoulder’s tensed and Daniel watched as he dropped his briefcase onto the ground and brought his hands up to his head, clutching at the remainder of his hair.

 

            “What the hell-” Daniel took a breath, numbing himself, and surged forward, slashing the knife out in front of him. It struck Von Hof in the lower back, just below his kidneys, and the man let out a wail, stumbling forward. Slamming the door Daniel kept going, slashing blindly in front of him, thoughts spinning out of control. Von Hof turned, throwing his arms up in defense as he howled. The man was desperate, face red, shirt quickly turning crimson, droplets of blood staining the grey carpet beneath his feet.

 

            “Help,” his voice was high and desperate as he screamed. Daniel’s adrenaline kicked in, someone would have called the cops by now, and he had at max ten minutes to get out if he wanted to make a safe getaway. He raised the knife again and Von Hof flailed, tripping on the painting discarded on the floor, and falling hard. He landed with a thump on the floor and moaned his wounds jarred by the motion. Daniel pounced, sitting down on Von Hof’s stomach, thighs straddling the man. He leaned forward, pressing the blade against Von Hof’s jugular.

 

            “Please,” the man rasped, “you can take anything just please don’t kill me.” Daniel was close to him, their faces only about a foot apart, he could see the pure fear in the other man’s eyes, he could see his humanity. The knife wavered and Daniel swallowed, unsure if he could bring himself to do it. Up until then it had just been planning, all theoretical, but sitting there, faced with it he couldn’t quite bring himself to press down. A voice in the back of his mind sneered at him, _fucking weakling. If you can’t even do this then what use are you?_ It sounded like his father’s voice and it made his blood boil. A wave of fury washed over him and he tightened his grip on the knife, barely even registering Von Hof’s voice as he pushed the knife into the man’s throat, cutting through flesh and muscle and a esophagus until the man beneath him is gurgling, blood spraying up to hit Daniel’s shirt and pooling on the ground. Von Hof’s mouth turns a sick shade of red; his words becoming a gargled unintelligible mess of moans tinted a disturbing pink. Daniel felt a way of pleasure wash over him. It was strangely satisfying. A smile spread across his face and he was sure that underneath the mask he was manically grinning.

            He watched as Von Hof stopped struggling, as the light faded from his eyes and his jaw went slack. Suddenly he felt sick. Nausea over took him and he stood up, alarmed, stomach rolling in protest. The blood, slowly sinking into his black clothing, felt like it was on fire and he clawed at himself for a moment desperately, pulling of the mask and throwing it into his bag as if it had burned him. He was reeling, he couldn’t think past the blood rushing through his ears and his panicked heart beat. His phone buzzed in his back pocket and he forced himself to breathe, pulling off his gloves to keep blood from getting onto his phone. It was Jack. He was outside. A laugh escaped from the constricting confines of Daniels throat and he bit his cheek harshly to keep from breaking down completely. Using the pain to center himself, Daniel took a step toward Von Hof and reached down to grab the knife from where it lay, still embedded in the man’s throat. Covering his own mouth with his unoccupied hand he winced as the blade came free with a stomach-turning _slurp_.

 

            Quickly, as though in a daze, Daniel stuffed the blade in his bag, snapped a picture of the body as evidence, and pulled the mask back out of his bag and put it on trying to ignore the coppery scent. Glancing over his shoulder he took one last glance at the room to insure everything was in place before pressing his ear to the door and listening for the sounds of footsteps. It was silent. Daniel pushed open the door and made his way to the elevator and downstairs. He didn’t have to work to play the role of twitchy robber, paranoia was coursing through his veins and the glances over his shoulder and jumpiness were only half faked.

 

            By the time he got to the street he was a mess, fingers drumming near constantly on his thigh, eyes a little wild, smelling of death. He went out through the mostly unused side entrance of the building, the one for the doormen, and removed his mask once he got past the last working camera. He looked frantic, but New Yorkers, he supposed, were used to ignoring those who looked out of sorts. Hardly anyone glanced his way, though most skillfully avoided coming within a two-foot radius of him. He caught sight of Jack’s car and made a beeline for it, wrenching the passenger side door open and throwing himself inside, slamming the door closed behind him

 

            “Drive.” His voice sounded shaky, a mix of panic and terror and something much darker. Jack looked at him, eyes widening, before his grip tightened on the wheel and he pulled out into the busy Manhattan streets. Neither of them spoke for a while, not until they were a decent distance from Von Hof’s apartment, and the only sound in the car was Daniel’s loud heavy breathing.

 

            “Daniel.” And shit, that was bad. Jack never called him Daniel, always Danny. It made Daniel clutch his bag tighter to his chest and fidget anxiously. Suddenly a hand was covering his own and Daniel realized that he had been using the index and middle finger of his left hand to tap out a beat on the dashboard without even consciously meaning to.

 

            Jack squeezed his hand once before letting go.

 

            “What happened?” Daniel twitched, digging his nails into his palm to keep himself from laughing, or crying, or something equally embarrassing. He could fake it, make up some story about Von Hof’s sexual preferences, maybe throw in a story about his childhood exploits to make it seem more traumatizing. But even as he thought it Daniel could tell it was a bad idea. Jack wasn’t stupid; no doubt he had seen the stains darkening Daniel’s clothes, he could probably smell the blood metallic and heavy in the suffocating air of the car.

 

            “He’s dead.” _I killed him_ went unspoken but even an idiot could figure it out. The words were flat, they sounded dead themselves. For all of his frantic energy Daniel’s voice was void of emotion. Jack didn’t respond except for a small nod, a slight readjustment of his hands on the wheel.

 

            “That was the real job?” It was a perfunctory question, they both knew the answer, but Daniel nodded anyway. Again Jack did not respond except for his own small bob of the head. Jack didn’t bother asking about the crime itself or the set up or if Daniel had been careful and Daniel appreciated that, even in his half lucid state, it meant the younger man trusted him to a degree (or at least trusted his skills).

 

            The rest of the ride was silent, neither of them dared speak, even moving to turn on the radio seemed hazardous to Daniel. He didn’t want to be the first to make a noise because he was afraid of what that might mean. It took a little over an hour for them to get back to the apartment and 15 minutes more for them to find a parking spot. Only then, when they were sitting inside the car, silent, unmoving, did Jack speak.

 

            “Are you alright?” Jack was starring at him, eyes searching and Daniel frowned, glancing down at himself. He was still covered in blood, by then it was matted in the fabric and drying uncomfortably to his skin. He felt disgusting, but he was unharmed.

 

            “Yes, it isn’t my blood.” Again, as he spoke his voice was monotone and Daniel saw Jack wince slightly. It made sense; Daniel was impressed he had kept up his indifferent front for so long. He was waiting for Jack to start yelling, turn him in, kick him out of the group, even though he didn’t have the authority to do that, or call Rhodes, who very much did have the authority to do that.

 

            “No, Danny,” back to Danny again, “are you okay? I mean, you sound like a robot and I’ve never seen you so tightly wound, not even when we were being interrogated.” Daniel gripped his bag tighter, almost trembling with the force he used. He could feel the edge of the knife’s blade through the fabric of the bag. Jack was right. He wasn’t okay. Maybe that should have been a solace to him, telling him he wasn’t completely fucked up. But all he could remember was that ghost of a smile that had crossed his lips as he had sunk the blade into Von Hof’s throat.

 

            “No,” it came out half choked and Daniel felt himself tear a bit, quickly unraveling. “I don’t think I am.” For a moment neither of them moved and then something snapped and then everything seemed to crash down on Daniel at once. He bent over himself letting out a dry sob and Jack surged towards him, hands grasping at Daniel’s shoulders, his face peering worriedly at him. After a moment Daniel reigned himself back in enough to form a coherent sentence. “I-I think I lost myself,” a vicious laugh escaped his mouth before he could stop himself, “or perhaps I just found myself and I’m a monster.” Daniel’s voice held all the feeling it had lacked before. It practically dripped with disgust and despair.

 

            “Look, you did something bad but it was to protect something you love. You aren’t a monster, you didn’t do it because you love it, you did it because you had to.” Daniel shook his head, pulling away slightly from Jack’s firm grip on his shoulders.

 

            “That’s just it though. There was a moment when I didn’t think I could go through with it, where I almost backed out. But then, then something came over me and I liked it. I was fucking smiling under the mask- _smiling_ , Jack.” He turned and caught Jack’s eyes staring into them with a frenetic intensity. The car was stifling and Daniel felt like he couldn’t breath, stuck between Jack’s gaze and the poison of his own thoughts. He blinked and shivered, turning abruptly and pushing open the door of the car. Jack hurried after him but Daniel didn’t bother slowing down or pausing, he wanted to get back to the relative safety of their apartment as quickly as possible.

 

            He barely succeeded in making it to the apartment without breaking down in the hallway. When he finally reached the door, his hands were shaking. He couldn’t get the key to fit into the lock. As he struggled he felt his fuse getting shorter and shorter until he was sure he would start screaming and never stop. Jack grabbed his hand, guiding it gently so that the key fit snuggly into the lock and turned easily. Daniel pulled his hand away as if he’d been burned but Jack refused to be discouraged, grabbing Daniel’s wrist before he could open the door.

 

            “I sent them out to buy groceries, knowing the two of them they won’t be back for at least another 40 minutes.” Daniel tried to force a smile onto his face but all he could manage was a slight grimace, before yanking open the door and striding inside. His bag was thrown down without a second thought as he made a beeline for the bathroom. Jack followed close enough behind him that when Daniel tried to close the bathroom door Jack had already slipped inside. When Daniel glared at him Jack shrugged.

 

            “I can leave if you want, but I don’t think you should be alone right now.” It was so matter of fact that Daniel felt he couldn’t argue; besides he wasn’t wrong.

 

            Slowly, Daniel peeled his dark sweater off his body. The blood stuck to his skin and made the removal uncomfortable, but once it was over his head he threw it hurriedly to the side where it landed with a splat in the dingy shower. Daniel intentionally ignored looking at himself in the mirror. Instead choosing to focus all his attention on turning on the faucet and methodically scrubbing away the blood staining his arms and torso with a washcloth. Jack’s eyes seemed to be burning holes in him and he tried to ignore it until he felt Jack’s gaze shift to his wrists. He stiffened, movements becoming jerky and kept scrubbing until he eventually became aware that he was accomplishing nothing, His skin had been clean for several minutes already. Daniel smirked darkly and turned to face Jack,

 

            “Well go on then, ask.” Jack’s eyebrows jumped up and leaned away from Daniel a bit.

 

            “Danny…” Daniel snorted, dropping the washcloth into the sink and taking a step towards Jack.

 

            “What, you’re shy all of a sudden? You came in here to ‘look after me’ or whatever but you’re gutless.” Daniel knew he was deflecting. He had always been sensitive about the scars lining his wrists; it was why he favored long sleeves. It was one of his worst memories, filled with screams and blood and his mother’s last breaths. He shook himself out of it and rubbed at his eyes tiredly. His emotions were running high, tension rolled just under his skin, his mood seemed increasingly unstable. All he wanted to do was sleep. He snarled, “You want to stare and stare, have me come to you sobbing about my past? It’s not going to happen.” Daniel clenched his fists, fighting off a wave of nausea, _his mother screaming, so close but so infuriatingly out of reach, blood soaking the floor, leaving a permanent stain._ Swallowing, Daniel released his hands and took a step back; he had to get a grip. Jack was being nothing but supportive.

 

            “Danny, I’m not going to pry. I’m never going to pry, but I’m also not going to disappear. You’ve decided to make me your confidant in all of this, so that’s what I am. Yes, I’m curious, but it’s only because I want to know more about you. So I’ll leave if you really want me to. I’ll fill Henley in if that’s what you need, but I’m not going to leave you alone right now, you don’t need more weight on your shoulders.” For a moment the two magicians stared at each other, and Daniel felt something inside him shift. He lunged forward towards Jack, pushing him against the door. In an instant, their lips connected and Daniel felt some of his tension melt away. It was as though they were in a vacuum for a moment, the world falling away, Daniel forgetting the traces of blood on his pants, the impending deadline with Samson, the Eye, everything. For a second he was at peace. Then, the tumblers in the lock on the apartment door started to turn and Daniel could make out Merritt and Henley’s voices faintly. He jumped away from Jack as if he’d be burned and pushed the magician aside, yanking open the bathroom door and storming out into the hallway, making a beeline for the closet, pulling on a thick jacket the reached his knuckles. He ignored the partially devastated look on Jack’s face. He ignored the pounding of his own heart.

 

            Merritt and Henley burst into the apartment.

 

            “We’re back, and we brought sustenance!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yep...  
> leave any comments you want, please yell at me I love to suffer :)))))))))) hope you enjoyed <3


	4. And The World Spins Madly On

            Dinner that night was one of the most awkward endeavors Daniel had ever been apart of. It was obvious that Merritt and Henley knew something was wrong and had already talked about what they were going to do about it, they didn’t bring up the tension that hung over the table once. Merritt spent all of dinner casting looks between Daniel and Jack while Henley told story after story in an attempt to set the group back to normal. Jack alternated between intensely staring at Daniel and dissecting his food. Daniel tried to act normal, tried to engage with Henley, but it was all he could do to keep from having a panic attack. His heart beat quickly, his lungs felt like they were shrinking, his head was pounding; he gripped the edge of the table with white knuckles and hoped his voice wouldn’t crack when he spoke.

 

            When his phone rang it was almost a blessing, all heads whipped towards him as he pushed his chair back and stumbled out of the room. He didn’t bother checking the caller ID, he knew who it was.

 

            “Danny boy, I just got the confirmation of a job well done. Congratulations!” He almost laughed, Rags sounded so upbeat, so disaffected by a murder that still made his hands shake.

 

            “Thanks, when can I have the money?” Outside of his door he could hear the floorboards creak and he bit his cheek, Merritt really needed to get better at sneaking around. _He probably would’ve gotten caught if he had tried to murder Von Hof_ a dark part of his mind whispered to him, a smirk twisted across his face as his stomach dropped.

 

            “It’s here whenever you wanna come and pick it up.” Daniel bit his lip and glanced at the door. It would be hard to get Jack to cover for him again, especially now with Merritt and Henley being so suspicious. They no doubt remember the looming deadline; they would want to know where he was getting the money.

 

            “Lets not pretend that we don’t know where the money is going, you know just as well as I do that Samson is the one getting it. No doubt you have connections to him, why don’t you just drop it off, say it’s from me.” The cackle that sounded through the phone made Daniel’s head pound more, set his teeth to grating.

 

            “You’re a funny guy, you know that Danny?” He hated the way she said his name, forever mocking him, “I don’t have a death wish and you don’t have anything I want. I’m here for another 3 hours. If you hurry you should be able to make it to me and Samson within the night and still have time for a little horseplay, or whatever the four of you call it.” Abruptly, she hung up and Daniel was left clutching the phone to his ear, anger and fear bubbling in his veins. He took a breath, steeling himself for what waited for him outside his door.

 

            Shoulders back, spine straight, he pushed the door open and was met with the faces of his three friends. They all wore varying shades of worry on their faces. He forced a smile and pushed past Henley on his way to the closet.

 

            “Danny,” her voice held a vortex of emotion and he sighed as he felt her hand come to rest on his back, “you can’t leave here without telling us where you’re going.” A petulant part of him wanted to ignore her, to push her worry to the side and dismiss her as a spoiled delicate brat. But he couldn’t, not only because it wasn’t true, but because he had lost too much of himself already to push away the last of the good in his life.

 

            “I’m going to go pick up the money and then drop it off with Samson. It shouldn’t take longer than 2 or 3 hours.” He spoke with his back to them, he couldn’t handle navigating their respective emotions when he didn’t have a handle on his own.

 

            He grabbed his jacket from it’s coat hanger roughly, and stuffed his arms through the sleeves, refusing to turn and look at the three of them until he had to, until their silence became unbearable. There was a moment, just after he turned towards them, when all was still, none of them moved and their mouth’s remained set in their hard-pressed lines. Then, Jack surged forward and snatched his jacket off the hook and Merritt and Henley started to talk at once,

 

            “You can’t just leave without—”

 

            “Atlas if you think we’re going to—”

 

            Jack held up his hand and, surprisingly, the other two quieted.

 

            “I’m going with you.” He spoke with an unquestionable authority and looked directly into Daniel’s eyes. They stood there, frozen, and Daniel couldn’t look away. He saw such calm in the younger horseman’s eyes, such beauty, that for a moment he was breathless. Then, Daniel’s phone buzzed in his back pocket and he looked away, nodding slightly and glancing at the text. It was from an unknown number, telling him a place and time and he swallowed, the time for talking had ended. If he wanted to make it to the drop off in time they had to leave now.

 

            “Okay.” Daniel looked up as Henley and Merritt started to come towards the closet to retrieve their own coats. “No, no,” anxiety built in his throat, they couldn’t all come, he couldn’t lose them all, “you both can’t come, its too dangerous.” Henley just huffed and Merritt grinned,

 

            “If you think that’ll discourage us you’ve got another thing coming. It was getting to boring around here anyway.” Daniel shook his head and opened his mouth to respond but Jack grabbed his hand, stopping his fingers from drumming against his jeans, and Daniel nodded. It was hopeless to try to keep them from coming; they outnumbered him and could just follow him besides. He tried to calm his nerves but his hands still trembled and it wasn’t until Merritt glanced at him. That he realized Jack was still holding his hand. This time when he pulled away it was with reluctance that he tried his best to ignore.

 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

            The bar looked the same. Even the patrons seemed to be identical to the ones he had seen when he was last there. Somehow, in the presence of the others, the bar seemed even dinger, even more like a place for the hopeless. Dameon nodded when he caught sight of him, barely even registering the other horsemen. He gestured vaguely with his hand towards a booth and Daniel led their small group towards it, settling them down and remaining quiet. The wood of the table was sticky and for a moment Daniel thought his hands were red, that he was once again covered in blood. He jerked back, banging his shoulder on the wood of the booth behind him and causing the Jack’s brow to furrow.

 

            “Well, well, well, I see you brought the whole mystery gang with you this time.” Rags leaned on the booth next to Daniel and smiled, as beautiful and deadly as he remembered her. “Shame that this is the first time we’re meeting. Perhaps we’ll get to know each other better.” She ruffled Daniel’s hair; “Skinny boy can’t outrun his past forever am I right?” Daniel jerked his head away from her and she smirked.

 

            “As much as I appreciate your eccentricities, I am on a tight schedule.” He kept his voice even, but barely, and Rags just rolled her eyes, smiling to Henley,

 

            “Men am I right? Always in a rush.” Henley didn’t so much as blink at her but Rags remained unperturbed as she pulled an envelope out of her back pocket. “It’s all there, but feel free to count it if you don’t trust me.” Daniel sent her a smile and then opened the envelope, quickly skimming over the bills and insuring he was paid in full before standing.

 

            “It was a pleasure Atlas, please come by whenever. Tuesdays ladies drink free.” Rags gave a mock bow to Daniel’s back as the four of them filed out of the bar. It wasn’t till they were safely back in the car that Merritt spoke up,

 

            “Well I gotta say I kind of liked her.” Henley burst into laughter and soon the somber mood seemed to have lifted a bit. Jack turned on the radio, and except for the changing songs and occasional GPS direction, the car was silent for most of the unnecessarily long car ride. The dark lighting allowed Daniel to sneak the occasional glance at Jack. His mind was a mess and his emotions seemed to have gone haywire so he hadn’t had time to reflect on the bathroom, on the kiss. Jack hadn’t mentioned it, but then again he hadn’t really had the opportunity to. It was clear that he was angry, but whether that was because Daniel had kissed him or because of his behavior afterwards, he wasn’t sure. He didn’t know what he would prefer. Certainty, he hadn’t meant to kiss him, but now that he had he couldn’t deny it held a certain specialness, a sense of homecoming that hadn’t accompanied his love for anyone else, even Henley, in years.

 

            “We’re here.” Jack turned off the car and glanced at Daniel. The silence had turned heavy as they all waited for his instructions to continue.

 

            “Okay.” He took a deep breath and rubbed at his temples, “Okay, so here’s what’s going to happen, we’re going in there and no one is going to speak. I’m not stupid enough to assume you would stay here if I told you to so you’re just going to have to settle for being voiceless and standing by the back of the room.” He doesn’t wait to see their nods, even though he knows they must be, before opening the passenger side door and steeping out.

 

            The building where Samson told him to go was relatively public, a penthouse on the Upper East side that loomed large and impressive over the well groomed, but deserted, sidewalk. Daniel took a deep breath, trying to quell his nerves and settle his shaking hands. He had to be steel. He couldn’t let Samson win, couldn’t let him know how terrified he was. If they saw through him, especially with his team there, it would be over. They would be lucky to walk out alive.

 

            He heard the telltale slam of the other car doors, the click of Henley’s heels on the concrete and the mildly irritating noise Merritt’s pants made as he walked. They were familiar sounds, ones he took comfort in, and by the time he felt Merritt clap him on the shoulder, he was ready. Daniel nodded at his three companions, rolled his shoulders back, ran a hand through his hair, and strolled, almost nonchalantly, up to the door of Samson’s impressive building.

 

            Once Daniel pressed the buzzer the door clicked open nearly instantly and a “doorman” stepped forward, leading the party to the staircase and gesturing them up it. Daniel pretended not to notice the gun that poked out, ever so slightly, from beneath the mans jacket.

 

            The staircase was neat and imposing, large with embellishing’s lining the molding and a soft, well maintained, carpet lining the stairs. It almost seemed as though they were entering the home of one of wall-streets elite rather than that of a bookie/loan shark/general all around “bad guy.” It was almost comical really, the ending to a bond film, and Daniel let out a soft chuckle. He could feel the concern and confusion ripple through the rest of the horsemen and tried to stifle himself; having a mental break now would do them no good and would serve as a rather anti-climatic end to this whole ordeal.

 

            At the top of the staircase there stood a door, it was slightly ajar and for a moment Daniel thought he would turn back, thought that he might just throw the envelope through the opening and rush back downstairs counting on their collective magic skills to help them escape. But as he drew another breath, as he clenched and unclenched his hands once in the fabric of his jeans, he knew it was hopeless. Cards wouldn’t do much against a gun, and without a semblance of a plan they would be lucky to make it out with one of them alive. He had gotten them into this, he should have known that for all his pretending this was all he was, a street rat who liked to play at having power. He wasn’t naive enough to think that, even if this went well, they would come away unscathed, and he turned back to look at the three of them for what felt like the last time. They all shared similar looks of determination and anxiety and when he caught Jack’s eye he had to dig his nails into his palms to keep from apologizing. It felt, for an instant, like all the shit he had been suppressing for the past few hours, the past few days, was going to boil over and he felt his knees tremble, but then Jack nodded and Daniel tore his eyes away, ignoring the look Merritt and Henley exchanged, and he was steel once again.

 

            The door didn’t creak as he opened it, as much as it felt like it should, and Daniel strode into the room with all the fake confidence he could muster. It was a stylish layout, complete with carpeting, a flat screen TV, and several chairs that looked to be purely decorative. In the middle of the room, just slightly off center, sat a large desk behind which sat the man Daniel had spent much of his life dreading, Samson. He wasn’t an imposing man, sure he was muscular and had a heavy brow, but he wasn’t immense and, if it hadn’t been for his eyes, he could have seemed almost normal. His eyes though, they were something horrific. They looked both dead and full of a kind of murderous glee, they looked like they belonged to Charles Manson, or Jeffery Dahmer, or Charles Bronson. Daniel forced himself to suppress a shiver, just as he forced himself to ignore the four goons standing around the desk, and the man passed out on the floor next to one of the chairs, left hand cuffed to a metal ring in the ground. He couldn’t afford to glance at his father, it would show weakness, and he desperately wanted to pretend that he didn’t care for the man anyway, that he wouldn’t care if the man died. It wasn’t true, but at the moment it was what he had to believe, there was no other way he could make it out of the room alive.

 

            Samson smirked coldly,

            “So, the prodigal son returns, and accompanied by is merry band of thieves no less.” Samson flicked his hand to indicate the horsemen and it was all Daniel could do to keep himself from flinching.

 

            “I have your money.” Daniel made his voice neutral as he spoke, he sounded almost as disaffected as Samson did, but not quite. Samson narrowed his eyes,

 

“I should hope so.” He made no move to get up and all of his goons remained still. Daniel swallowed.

 

            “Let’s keep this short, I have what you want and you have what I want,” he jerked his chin in the direction of his father all the while never taking his eyes off of the man sitting in front of him, “shall we?” Samson chuckled, though it sounded more like a death toll, and pushed himself to standing. Daniel stood ramrod straight as Samson made his way around the desk and sauntered lazily towards him.

 

            “You’ve really grown up huh Danny boy?” Daniel shifted slightly at the nickname and he saw the corner of Samson’s mouth tick up for a moment, “Bought yourself some fancy new clothes, some fancy new friends, and now you think you can call all the shots huh?” He stopped right in front of Daniel and patted his shoulder before reaching behind Daniel, groping at his butt for a moment before pulling out the envelope Rags had given him hours before, the one he had supplemented with the cash he had withdrawn from his own account. Samson’s smirk widened and he held the envelope up waiting for one of his men to retrieve it, and start counting the money, before reaching to grab Daniel’s chin. He studied him for a moment and Daniel saw his eyes spark. The grip on his chin tightened and Daniel had no time to react before Samson was viciously biting at his lips and licking into his mouth. Daniel had to dig his nails into his thigh to keep from twisting away. He heard someone shift behind him and prayed that they would remember his commands and stay put. It only lasted a moment, and soon Samson was pulling away, still holding his chin so tightly that the muscles beneath the skin were beginning to ache. Samson’s jaw shifted and then he was pulling back slightly before spitting onto Daniel’s left cheek. This time he wasn’t able to stop himself from reacting and he flinched back making Samson grin.

 

            “Not so tough now huh? You’re still the same kid you were before, a spineless little whore. Sure you got some bite,” he twisted his wrist, forcing Daniel to jerk his head to the right, “but you only play at having real power.” Taking a step back he released Daniel’s chin and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Then, his gaze flicked back to rest on the other three horsemen. Daniel felt his blood run cold. His mind started to race, he couldn’t let Samson touch them. Samson could degrade and insult Daniel all he wanted, but touching his friends was not something he could abide. So, when Samson took a step forward, Daniel sidestepped until he was standing in Samson’s way.

 

            “I won’t let you touch them.” He tried to sound as menacing as he could, what with Samson’s spit still dripping, cold now, down his face. For a moment Samson appeared surprised, but then he simply flicked his wrist and Daniel could see all the guns in the room being trained on him. Still, he refused to move, setting his jaw and preparing for the worst.

 

            “Danny, don’t.” Daniel stiffened at the sound of Jack’s voice and Samson smiled, he waved his hand again and Daniel desperately tried to remain calm as the guns shifted to point at Jack.

 

            “You know Danny, when I first saw you on TV doing all those magic stunts, I was perplexed. How could a no good gutter rat like yourself, now be calling the shots and preforming international heists. I mean, what happened to the kid who all but lived on his knees.” Daniel didn’t even twitch, he couldn’t let Samson think he was affecting him in any way, who knew what would happen if the man thought he won. “You were pretty well known back then, though I guess you are now too. Best hands instead of best lips for a change huh?” Then he brushed past Daniel and stopped in front of Henley, who stood in the middle of the two boys, “Or do they really call the shots after all? Are you just the front man, pretending to be all high and mighty during the act but afterwards, your nothing but a sniveling weasel,” he brushed a hand over Henley’s hair, Henley, for her part, didn’t look at all amused, “just like your waste of a father.” As if on cue his dad let out a groan and, much to Daniels chagrin, started to talk.

 

            “I knew you would come boy, I knew you wouldn’t abandon your old dad in his time of need. You’ve always been good like that, I could always count on you when it came down to it.” He continued to ramble, voice scratchy and rough as he jangled his handcuff and coughed. Samson looked unimpressed and walked briskly to where the man lay on the floor, delivering two hard kicks to shut him up before turning back to Daniel.

 

            “Listen I’m going to cut the shit now. We both know you and your little buddies aren’t getting out of here unless I want you to and right now what I want is for you to come work for me.” The room suddenly felt like it was devoid of oxygen. Samson’s mouth continued to move but for a moment all Daniel could hear was a ringing in his ears. His worst fears were coming to light. Samson wanted him, which meant returning to his old life, meant giving up his friends, his pride, all for some debt that he had already gone through so much to pay. He felt like he was going to crack, cry, scream. It was too much, this was too much, this was one sacrifice he could not make.

 

            “No.” Samson paused mid sentence and raised his eyebrows,

 

            “I’m sorry,” his voice turned deadly, “what?”

 

            “I won’t work for you. I don’t owe you a debt, and nothing you can do will make me reconsider. I’d rather you kill me than come work for you,” then after seeing Samson’s eyes drift towards the other horsemen he added, “Killing them won’t make me reconsider either. I won’t trade my life for theirs, not this time.” He hoped Samson couldn’t see through the lie, wouldn’t call him on his bluff because he knew, if it came down to it, he wouldn’t let them die for him. But if they all wanted to get out of there in one piece Samson had to think he was selfish enough to let his friends die.

 

            Samson stood for a moment, considering, then nodded.

 

            “Alright then.” Samson jerked his chin and snapped his fingers and just as quickly as Daniel realized his mistake, he heard a shot ring out. He turned, clenching his fists and pressing his lips together to keep from screaming as Jack let out a cry of pain, dropping to the floor clutching his left leg. A hand landed on Daniel’s left shoulder and he tensed,

 

            “I really hope you didn’t think I was stupid enough to fall for that.” Samson’s grip tightened and Daniel tried to block out the grunts Jack was making on the floor. Henley and Merritt were both crouched around him, Merritt pressed down on the wound to slow the bleeding and Henley shushed Jack while stroking his face.

 

            Samson leaned in to whisper into Daniel’s ear, “I know you care deeply for them. If you want to do this the hard way I can shoot them all one by one until you’re begging me to let you into my employ,” Daniel caught Henley’s eye and she shook her head slightly, “or you could agree to join me now and save me a unnecessary cleanup.” Daniel bit his lip, he couldn’t let his friends suffer for him, but the look on Henley’s face said she would kill him if he dared consider agreeing to Samson’s terms. There had to be a way out, they were masters of illusion, of escape, of trickery, it couldn’t end like this for them, it just couldn’t. His mind raced and his fingers tapped erratically against his thigh.

 

            “So what do you say?” Daniel looked at Henley, smiled slightly, and winked, her mouth ticked up and she pretended to turn her attention back to Jack, who was struggling to sit up. Jack’s eyes locked on his own and for a moment Daniel froze. Jack looked so raw, his emotions closer to the surface than they had been for a while. It reminded Daniel of the first time they met; it hadn’t been that long ago yet Jack had seemed so much younger then. Abruptly, Daniel turned away from Jack and towards Samson. The older man looked victorious, a predatory grin stretching across his mouth, and Daniel fought to keep himself from flinching as he pressed the two of them closer together. Samson’s left hand rested heavily on Daniel’s hip with his right still holding onto Daniel’s shoulder.

 

            “Does this answer your question?” Daniel asked, internally rolling his eyes at the cliché, before leaning forward and pressing his lips to Samson’s. He forced himself to remain relaxed and felt Samson shove his leg in between Daniel’s own. Daniel did his best to forget about Jack, sitting on the floor just a few feet away bleeding, about his dad lying handcuffed to the ground, and focused on playing his part. He’d always been a good actor, it was what had allowed him to become such a successful magician after all, but it was made somewhat harder when the situation was dire. He moaned emphatically when he felt Samson slip his tongue into his mouth, the man’s hands starting to wander. Goosebumps rose on his skin as Samson pushed his hand underneath Daniel’s sweater to drag across the skin underneath. He groaned, trying to disguise his shiver as one of pleasure rather than disgust, and felt Samson start to harden against his leg. Daniel allowed his hands to drift down closer to Samson’s belt, one hand reaching around to rest on his lower back, the other dipping down past the elastic of Samson’s underwear to enclose around the base of his half hard cock. Samson moaned against Daniel’s lips and Daniel clicked his heel on the floor as a signal to Henley, and then counted to twenty in his head as he coaxed Samson to full hardness. Then, quickly, he dipped his free hand down to pull out the, rather small, handgun concealed in the waistline of Samson’s jeans. He squeezed Samson’s dick hard, causing the man to yelp, and fired at the only guard he could see over Samson’s shoulder. He missed, but that was fine, because the goal wasn’t accuracy as much as dramatics. Quickly, he brought the gun up to Samson’s head and said, in as intimidating a voice as he could manage,

 

            “Drop your guns or I shoot him.” He couldn’t see all the guards; after all he was still facing Samson, his hand in a vice-like grip around the man’s dick. Samson’s eyes were boring a hole into the side of Daniel’s head but he knew the man wouldn’t move, not when he was in such a compromising position. Daniel heard the guns clinking against the floor and waited till after he heard the heels of Henley’s shoes clicking across the room as she retrieved the guns, and brought them back to hand one to Merritt and take the ammo out of two of them, keeping the fourth one for herself, before taking his hand out of Samson’s pants and flipping the man around.

 

            “Uncuff my dad.” Samson nodded and one of the goons split off from the others, taking keys out of his pocket and kneeling to unlock the handcuffs. Daniel leaned in to whisper in Samson’s ear, backing them both up slowly towards the door, “Me and my friends are going to leave now. You aren’t going to bother us and we aren’t going to bother you, is that understood?” Samson nodded but Daniel knew that wasn’t going to be enough, men like Samson didn’t tend to listen to other people. “I know you’re going to be tempted to come after us, but remember, no one has bested us on our own turf yet. We have connections all over the world, and if you think your little empire has anything on the ones in other countries, in other states even, you’ve got another thing coming.” Daniel watched carefully as Henley hauled Jack to his feet and Merritt all but picked up his dad, dragging him out the door. Henley nodded to Daniel, disappearing down the stairs after Merritt, gun lowered but the safety off. “Got it?” This time when Samson nodded Daniel allowed himself to relax a bit. “Good.” Quickly, he fired off three rounds at the goons, who were still standing somewhat uselessly by the desk, managing to clip two of them though not fatally, and shot a fourth round into Samson’s foot. He shoved the man forward and then stepped out of the doorway and into the stairway, slamming the door shut to buy himself a few extra seconds as he sprinted down the stairs.

 

            The doorman was on the floor, bleeding from a shoulder wound, his gun presumably kicked to the other side of the room, where it lay on its side uselessly. When he caught sight of Daniel he lunged for his gun and Daniel ran faster, pushing the doors to the building open and managing to stumble onto the sidewalk just as the first shot rang out behind him. Henley gestured to him frantically from the driver’s seat of the car and he bolted the last dozen feet to the car, barely getting the passenger door closed before Henley was peeling out and driving down the street.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyyyyy I finally updated look at that! This really has taken me too long to post but thank you to everyone who stayed with with or left me comments like hey bro you really should update this, they really helped motivate me. There's only one more chapter after this, just to wrap everything up and maybe give Daniel a little bit of happiness for once...we'll see <3


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The horsemen recover and have some much needed conversations.

            For a moment the car was completely silent, save for the sound of ragged breaths, he could almost feel the adrenaline in the backseat and everyone seemed to be buzzing. It wasn’t until Henley slowed the car to s halt at a stoplight three blocks down that anyone spoke.

 

            “I have to say Atlas, I was wondering where you got your looks, and now I have my answer.” Merritt gestured to Daniel’s dad, propped up in the front seat with his head resting against the window. Henley snorted and Jack chuckled before groaning and biting down on his lip. Daniel’s eyes snapped down to Jack’s left leg. His jeans, once grey, had turned black and tacky with his own blood and the car seat was quickly becoming slick with it. Daniel lurched forward, replacing Jack’s hands with his own and attempting to stem the blood flow. They would have to take the younger man to a hospital, this was not something that their medicine kit and limited skills could take care of, he needed real help. Guilt stabbed through Daniel’s gut and he chewed on the inside of his cheek for a moment, looking up to see Merritt’s brow creased with worry. Daniel knew he had just been trying to lighten the moment with his humor but Daniel just didn’t have the energy to keep up a stream of banter at the moment.

 

            “Henley we have to get to the nearest-”

 

            “Hospital, yeah,” she spun the wheel, making a right hand turn, “I’m already on it Danny, just focus on keeping him with us.” She glanced at him in the rearview window and, for a moment, he saw that, despite her steady voice, she was still scared. Her hands were tight on the steering wheel and her eyes when he met them were a bit wild. Jack let out a laugh, his voice cracking.

 

            “Stop talking about me like I’m not here you guys. I’m here. I’m fine, I’m fine.” Jack was staring at his leg, brow furrowed, lips slightly open. He looked like he was trying to will the wound away.

 

            “Yeah kid, you’re gonna be fine, don’t worry.” Merritt said placatingly. Jack’s head snapped up and for a moment his eyes flashed with anger.

 

            “Not gonna be, I _am_ fine.” There was so much fire in his voice that Merritt just held up his hands, uselessly moving his mouth before Daniel cut in.

 

            “Of course you’re fine Jack, you’ve always been the strongest out of all of us. I mean, who else could survive a car explosion and make it out with out a scratch?” Jack let another strained chuckle and Daniel felt his heart ache just a bit at the sound. Merritt picked up on his strategy and they locked eyes for a moment before the older man nodded.

 

            “Who else could scam people all over New York and get away with it? That takes some serious balls.”

 

            “Who else could make cards into weapons?”

 

            “Who else could make his ability to break into places into a catchphrase?” They kept going, back and forth back and forth, Jack intermittently laughing and groaning, and Henley nervously cackling from the front seat while rushing them to the closest hospital. It was kind of soothing, the back and forth, it helped distract him from the reality of what he’d just been a part of, what he’d just done. For the moment at least, he was able to forget about his guilt, his shame, his declining mental state, and focus all his attention on helping Jack distract himself, helping this boy who he had, rather unwillingly, come to care about more than he ever thought he would.

 

            As Henley slowed to a stop in front of the hospital, Daniel and Merritt unlocked the car doors and were jumping out of the car before Henley had brought the car to a full stop.

 

            “You get your dad, me and Henley got Jack.” Daniel wanted to argue, he hadn’t really thought about brining his dad in, he had figured the man would rather just wait out his injuries in an apartment with plenty of alcohol, but now that he thought about it, it was definitely the right thing to do. He nodded and made his way to the passenger side door, opening it and hauling his dad out. The man stunk of body odor and alcohol, a sickening mixture that made Daniel’s stomach turn, and he turned his head away slightly as he slipped his fathers arm over his head and pulled him up until his weight was resting on Daniel’s left side. Daniel grunted and shifted a bit so he could close the door to the car before slowly making his way to the front door of the hospital. His dad stirred back into consciousness, moaning as the movement jostled his injuries, whatever they were.

 

            “Danny, Danny,” he gasped, mumbling under his breath.

 

            “Yeah dad, don’t worry, I’m taking you to get some help right now.” His dad let out a grunt in response and then proceeded to fall silent for the rest of the journey into the lobby. He saw Merritt and Henley standing by the front desk, filling out some forms. He made his way over to the nearest nurse who, upon seeing his dad’s hand, the one with only four fingers on it, ushered him off to a room somewhere to wait for a doctor. Before leaving she directed him to where Merritt and Henley where staying and told him to fill out admittance forms and she’d be back shortly to tell him where his dad was.

 

            The three of them stood in silence, occasionally broken by a question about the form or a yawn. It was a careful silence, one that kept Daniel on edge, constantly worried that one of them would finally have enough and ask him some questions. But, he supposed, they wanted to wait until they could talk to Jack, or be in private, or something equally as dire.

           

            The silence extended to their sitting on chairs in a waiting area. Daniel’s dad had finally gotten into see a doctor and was now on antibiotics to stop the infection that had taken up root in his finger and a saline drip to stabilize his blood alcohol levels. He had been into see him but his dad had been soundly asleep and after of ten minutes of watching him breathe Daniel had felt a little overwhelmed and had left to go back to the waiting area.

 

            The three of them sat there, all in relative states of isolation. Henley was lying leaning against Daniel’s shoulder with her feet across Merritt’s lap playing a game on her phone. Her weight was a grounding presence for him. Her hair brushing across his neck, her shoulder blade digging ever so slightly into the meat of his arm, it made him stay glued to the present. It helped him ignore the flood of memories, of guilt, of sadness, that was lurking in the back of his brain. Merritt had his hat tipped over his face and was trying to sleep, or at least pretending to try to sleep Daniel had no doubt that the mentalist was trying to figure him out from the information he had learned from Samson. Daniel drummed his fingers anxiously on his thigh, changing up beats and trying to stall any meltdowns until he could be alone, or at the very least somewhere that didn’t smell like antiseptic and old coffee.

 

            “Wilder family?” A nurse came up to the three of them holding a clipboard and they all jumped up, Henley stepping on Merritt’s foot and Daniel almost tripping in his haste. The nurse regarded the three of them for a moment before glancing down at her clipboard. “He’s out of surgery, we got the bullet out of his thigh and gave him stiches. He’s on some antibiotics to prevent infection but besides that he’s alright. We want to keep him here for at least another day to make sure he keeps healing like he should, but after that he should be able to go home. He’ll have to walk on crutches and get lots of rest and attend some physical therapy but he’ll be back to normal in no time.” The three of them let out a collective breath and she smiled at them warmly, “He should be waking up soon, I can take you into see him if you want.” Daniel nodded enthusiastically and she gestured with her hand for them to follow her before turning and walking down a nearby hallway at a brisk pace. He hurried after her, hearing the click of Merritt and Henley’s shoes close behind them.

 

            “We gave him a room for recovery to lower his risk of infection, you all can wait in here as long as you want, though I would recommend going home and getting some sleep,” she glanced at Daniel, “you look like you need it.” Henley chuckled and Merritt snorted, stepping out of her way as the nurse walked away from them.

 

            Taking a breath Daniel turned the knob and pushed open the door. The three of them crowded inside in a rush, Henley shutting the door behind them. When he saw Jack, Daniel felt his shoulders relax a bit. It was one thing hearing that Jack was alright, it was another seeing him lying in a hospital bed, a little pale, but breathing and okay. He was going to be okay.

 

            Daniel all but collapsed into a chair at Jack’s side, holding onto the edge of the bed hard, hard enough to hurt, and let himself be happy that they were all still breathing, still there, and were more or less okay. They were still the four horsemen. They had made it.

 

            Merritt and Henley sank into chairs next to him and all waited, quiet once more, for Jack to stir. After a couple of minutes spent staring at their friends sleeping form, Henley and Merritt started to fidget, obviously uncomfortable with the intensity of the moment, but Daniel stayed where he was, gazing at Jack’s face. He looked so at peace when he was asleep, calm, relaxed, and young. Daniel swallowed back the guilt that rose in his throat; he was the one that pushed Jack so hard, that made him take on a gruffer edge during the day. Even before he had become Daniel’s confidant of sorts, Daniel hadn’t gone easy on him. He had always pushed him to be more mature, to take on more, to push himself harder. He made the youngest horseman take on more responsibility and yes, Jack had rose to the challenge, but Daniel should have been more understanding. He had a habit of pushing people to their breaking point, usually as a defense mechanism to keep others away from himself, but he was starting to understand that the horsemen were hard to break, and, more importantly, even though he knew the next couple hours would be hard, even though he knew he would hate the conversations they would have when Jack woke up, he didn’t want to break them up or drive them away.

 

            Jack shifted in his sleep and instantly Daniel snapped back to attention, eyes zeroing in on Jack’s chest, rising and falling rhythmically in his sleep. Daniel smiled a bit, mouth quirking up, and had to fight the urge to grabs jack’s hand, now tauntingly close, and squeeze it. Jack shifted again and this time he scrunched up his nose, slowly blinking his eyes open. He squinted at them for a moment before his face broke out into a grin.

 

            “Guess I’m back with you losers again huh?” Jack’s voice was a bit gravely with sleep but they were all happy to hear it. Henley let out a squeal and rushed of Jack’s side, Merritt chuckled, and Danny smiled meeting Jack’s eye and thinking, for the first time in days, that they were going to be alright.

 

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            Jack didn’t stay awake long enough the first time to have a conversation that was anything more than some lighthearted jokes and the warm feeling of comradely love that seemed to envelope the room. Jack had fallen back asleep with a small smile on his face, Merritt’s booming laugh lulling the younger man to sleep. The three of them had talked a little more once Jack was asleep, just friendly banter, all of them were collectively ignoring the dark cloud that hung just out of sight, until one by one they each fell silent as their thoughts consumed them. It wasn’t long after that that Daniel heard Merritt’s light snoring and Henley’s even breath. Daniel knew he should take a nap, if a random nurse felt the need to comment on his no doubt haggard appearance, then he really needed some rest, but despite the fatigue pulling at his eyelids, he couldn’t get himself to sleep. Every time his eyes started to close, images of his father’s hand, of Samson’s smirk, of Von Hof’s lifeless body swam in front of his vision and he jolted awake. It was more exhausting than just staying up would be so after around 30 minutes of this same pattern Daniel slipped out of the room and into the hallway to see if he could get some terrible coffee from the machine down the hall. The hospital wasn’t quiet, he could hear soft moans coming from a room down the hall and, just when Daniel was pressing down on the hot water lever, someone on the floor let out a series of blood curdling screams causing two nurses to rush by on their way to address the problem.

 

            Daniel took a moment to just stand in the hallway, to let the emotions he had been fighting back for the past few days wash over him. He dug the nails of his free hand into his thigh and bit his lip in an attempt to keep himself from sobbing. His eyes weld up and he felt a lump rise in the back of his throat. For a second it felt like he would fall over the precipice and that he would shake apart, his guilt and grief making him lose it. But, after a few deep breaths and an increase of pressure of his fingers into his leg, Daniel was able to get himself under control.

 

            Scrubbing his hand across his face, Daniel made his way back to Jack’s room, his hands only slightly shaking as he opened the door. For a moment he just stood there, watching his friend’s sleep, a slight smile creeping over his face as he realized just how happy he was that they were all okay. He walked back to his chair, grimacing slightly as he took another sip of his coffee. He glanced over at Jack and was startled to see the other man looking back at him.

 

            “Why are you awake?” His voice was still groggy and a little rough from his forced sleep and Daniel rolled his eyes.

 

            “I should be asking you the same thing, you’re the one who got shot.” Daniel snorted but Jack just stared at him, a slight frown making his eyebrows pull together just a little bit. He remained silent and Daniel took another sip of coffee, usually he was good at being in control, at waiting other people out, but he could feel himself slipping and the longer Jack looked at him the harder it was for him to keep his mouth shut.

 

            “I couldn’t sleep, and after a while I decided to stop trying and to just stay awake instead.” He raised his cup in demonstration and gulped down another swallow, attempting to ignore the bitter watery flavor. Jack’s frown deepened.

 

            “Danny…you know that none of this is your fault right.” Daniel just scoffed, raising his eyebrows slightly. “No, really. You didn’t ask for any of this, you certainly tried to keep all of us out of it so just, just don’t blame yourself for this. Not for this too.” Jack’s words carried a lot of weight, a lot left unsaid. Yes, Daniel might have done some awful things, and Jack wasn’t saying he didn’t do them, he was saying that he still cared, along with the other two horsemen, that they didn’t blame Danny, and that was a start.

 

            “I just can’t stop seeing it, every time I close my eyes, it’s all right there.” Daniel caught Jack’s eyes and, for once, let himself be vulnerable. “After all I’ve done I don’t deserve a clean conscious but that doesn’t mean it isn’t hard.” That was perhaps the truest thing he could say because, for all that Daniel wanted to sleep, to forget for a few hours, he knew he didn’t deserve it.

 

            Jack was silent for a moment, regarding Daniel as if trying to work something out, trying to fit the puzzle pieces together.

 

            “What’s done is done, and perhaps better choices could have been made, but this is where we are now and none of us are going to let you go, no matter how much you might want us to. You are part of this group and we stick together.” Daniel nodded, clutching his cup close to his chest in an attempt to keep from doing something embarrassing like crying or hugging Jack. “This doesn’t mean you’re off the hook for explaining everything to us.” The way Jack’s eyes flashed Daniel could tell he meant _everything,_ after all, Samson made it pretty obvious that Daniel had hidden more from his friends than he originally let on. Jack wouldn’t let him keep it under wraps this time.

 

            “Yeah, yeah I know.” Jack nodded and settled back and Daniel thought that would be the end of it, he would go to sleep and Daniel would be left trying to let himself relax enough to get even a short nap. But, just as he thought the younger man had dozed off, he spoke.

 

            “We have to talk about it you know,” Daniel’s blood ran cold, he had been wondering if Jack would bring it up, he had been too afraid to do it himself. “It’s okay if you don’t want it to mean anything, if you want to forget about it and move on, but I won’t let you act like nothing happened, that’s not fair.” Daniel could see the way Jack’s hands were fisting the sheets and he wondered, what Jack was afraid of hearing.

 

            “Okay.” Jack’s head snapped towards him and his eyes narrowed slightly.

 

            “Okay, okay what? Okay you don’t want to talk about it? Okay you want to forget it? Okay you want us to be more? What does ‘okay’ even mean?” Jack bit out each word harshly, all hard vowels and sharp consonants and Daniel flinched, realizing again just how much pressure the younger man had been under, how in control he had needed to act. Daniel knew all about control, which meant he too knew all about exhaustion and that empty feeling that formed in your gut when everyone around you seemed to be relying on you without giving you a chance to breathe.

 

            “I know I’m not very good at this, I tend to ignore emotions instead of talk about them, but I’ll try.” He swallowed, intentionally ignoring Jack’s gaze even as he could feel it boring into his forehead, “I usually just take my cues on these things from others, I figure out how they want me to react and I base my response off of that. If someone likes me I figure out the best way to draw them in, if they stop or start to have problems because of me, I figure out how to push them away.” He took a deep breath, still not looking at Jack, he knew if he did he would stop. “With you it’s different. I don’t know what you want and it’s throwing me off. When we first came in here I wanted to hold your hand,” at this he glanced at Jack but quickly looked away again when he saw the guarded look in the other’s eyes. “But I didn’t because I didn’t know what you would think our what the others would say. And I don’t want to forget about the kiss but I don’t know what to say about it either. I have come to rely on you in these past couple days more than I have anyone else in years and I don’t know what to do with that, I don’t know how to act, I just…” Daniel trialed off, finally raising his eyes to meet Jack’s and was struck by the compassion in them.

 

            “I don’t want to forget about it either, and as for holding my hand…” Jack held out his right arm, the one closest to Daniel and the older man hesitantly reached out to grab it, interlacing their fingers together, a slow warmth spreading in his chest. “We don’t have to figure everything out now, let’s just start here,” he squeezed Daniel’s hand to illustrate his point, “and then see where it goes. Sound good?” Daniel nodded and Jack smiled, yawning halfway through. Daniel watched as Jack fell asleep and soon, despite the coffee and the flashes of fear that ran through him, he felt himself start to do the same, Jack’s hand in his anchored him to the present and that was all he could really ask for.

 

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            Daniel woke up to the sound of laughter and the telltale shutter sound of a phone taking a picture. Daniel sat up rubbing his eyes with his right hand and shooting a glare at Merritt and Henley who were at the foot of the bed with their phones out. He tried to move his other hand only to discover it was still intertwined with Jack’s. Henley burst out into a new fit of laughter as Daniel blushed and delicately removed his hand from Jack’s, sending his fellow horsemen a scowl in the process.

 

            “Looks like you two are getting along pretty well.” Merritt looked smug and Daniel flipped him off while getting to his feet. He stretched his back, hearing several satisfying pops, and ran his fingers through his hair, attempting to fix what was no doubt a bit of a mess.

 

            “Could you two do something useful like get us food or something instead of wasting time taking pictures without consent.” Henley rolled her eyes, pointing to the corner of the room where there was a take out bag.

 

            “You seem a little defensive Danny-boy.” Daniel could hear the smirk in her voice but he chose to ignore her and instead walked over the bag and started to rummage through it. They had apparently gotten Chinese and Daniel grabbed the first thing he saw, his stomach growling loudly.

 

            “Sure seem hungry, was sleeping really the only thing you got up to last night?” Merritt teased and Danny pushed past him to his seat, purposefully stepping down hard on Merritt’s toes, though he suspected the man barely felt it through his boots. “Ouch, someone’s touchy.” Daniel opted to ignore them again, instead opening up the container in his lap and digging in, not really caring what it was he was stuffing in his mouth.

 

            “The nurse came through this morning, checked over Jackie’s vitals and looked at his chart and stuff. She thinks you two are very cute.” Henley was smiling when Daniel looked at her and he felt his face heat up again at the prospect of their nurse seeing him clutching Jack’s hand in his sleep. “The man of the hour hasn’t woken up yet but when he does we have some great pictures to show him.” Henley waggled her phone in the air causing Daniel to huff in annoyance and Merritt to snort.

 

            “Speaking of which,” Merritt pointed to Jack’s bed and the three of them watched as Jack woke up, yawning and then smacking his lips together for a moment before focusing on his friends. He looked directly at Daniel and smiled and Daniel smiled back, despite the fact that Henley and Merritt were watching the two of them closely.

 

            “Glad you’re awake Jack,” Henley said slyly, walking to the side of his bed and unlocking her phone, “we have some pictures to show you!” Jack grinned and Daniel spent the next couple of minutes resolutely looking down and ignoring all attempts made by his so-called-friends to embarrass him.

 

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            The morning seemed to fly by, between laughing over the photos, eating, and being visited by nurses, there wasn’t much time to think about anything, let alone have a long, serious talk. As midday crept its way towards afternoon the mood started to shift. Silence would lapse over them and Daniel would see two of his friends exchange looks or glance hurriedly in his direction when they thought he wasn’t paying attention. It was starting to set him on edge. His fingers drummed rhythmically against his thigh, the armrest, his phone, anything near his hands. Eventually, during one of the increasingly heavy silences, Daniel felt a hand, soft and warm, settle over his, stilling his anxious tapping. He looked over to see Henley smiling at him, a sort of wistful expression on her face. He swallowed, turned his hand over to lace his fingers with Henley’s and took a breath.

 

            “Alright, you guys don’t have to keep dancing around me like this, whatever you want to know just ask.” Jack pushed himself up a bit in bed, wincing but shaking his head when Daniel started to stand.

 

            “You were a prostitute.” Merritt’s voice was jarring and Daniel’s eyes snapped to him, his defenses rising.

 

            “That a question?” Daniel bit back. Merritt scoffed, lifting up his hat with one hand so that he could run his other hand over the top of his head.

 

            “Jesus kid, I guess not.” Daniel could feel himself prickling, shutting down, not preparing himself for some sort of battle. Gently, Henley squeezed his hand, more a soft exertion of pressure than anything else, and he felt himself come back. He wasn’t among strangers, these people weren’t going to taunt him, twist his words until they became venomous things rearing their ugly heads and attempting to hurt him. These were his friends, he could trust them, and most of all he owed them an explanation, if not more.

 

            “Sorry, sorry yeah…I-I was, once. A long time ago.” His other hand, the one not currently being held by Henley, started tapping out a rhythm against his leg. “I was just a kid really. We had a lot of bills and after my mom,” he cleared his throat, “after she died my dad couldn’t handle it. He took more and more risks, spent more of his time drunk, or playing cards, or laughing in the living room with his buddies, his…business was kind of falling apart and I, well I tried to get a regular job at first. Hell, I tried to get as many as my schedule would allow, but no one really wants to hire a kid, and the money that I did end up making from working for a local deli wasn’t enough. I resisted for as long as I could but eventually my dad’s insistence that I earn my keep and become a real man of the family won out.

 

            “At first it was just dealing. Nothing hard, just some weed here and there. My dad didn’t want his drug business to fail even more than it was, and with the club consistently in the red he thought amping up his success in other areas would be helpful.” Daniel didn’t look up from the floor, he couldn’t, he wouldn’t be able to get this out if he saw their faces because he was sure, no matter what, there would be some sort of judgment on them. And that made sense, it really did, but he just didn’t think he could handle it, not when he was sharing something he hoped he had left behind.

 

            “I started practicing magic around this time. I had always been good at slight of hand, learning to steal was like learning to ride a bike in my house, and once I started doing it I just couldn’t stop, it helped keep me sane. It helped me take my mind off of everything, especially wh-when he _suggested_ I start selling myself on the side.” The way he said it made it clear it had been more than a mere suggestion. “At this point he was out of control, the club was being foreclosed on, he was racking up gambling debt left and right, and he was starting to be seen as less of a competitor and more of the neighborhood joke. Buying my time became a way to get back at my dad for all the shit he had put other people through, and the money it provided meant that even when things got dangerous or intense or…or whatever I had to keep going.” He sighed feeling Henley’s hand tighten around his own.

 

            “I was able to get out eventually, pay for my father’s debts, start doing magic full time, move out, leave everything behind to become someone new and when all of this shit started up again I just,” Daniel bit the inside of his cheek for a moment, forcing himself to remain calm, to keep his voice even, “I just wanted it to go away, I wanted to keep all of you out of it. I didn’t want who I used to be to ruin what I had with you guys and I thought I could handle it but I-I-I,” he took a shuddering breath, his chest constricting and his vision starting to blur as his eyes burned with unshed tears, “I killed Von Hof and I got my dad’s finger chopped off and Jack shot and I don’t know if Samson will come after me again and if he does he’ll target you too and, and,” Daniel broke off, a sob tearing its way out of his throat. He felt arms around him and he assumed they were Henley’s but when he felt what were definitely the points of Henley’s nails skimming up and down his arm as she rubbed at him soothingly, he realized it must be Merritt that he was sobbing on.

 

            “Shhhhhhhhhhh, Atlas you’re okay, we aren’t going to hurt you, we aren’t mad, we just wanted to know what was happening, it’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay.” Merritt’s voice, a rumble in his ear, and Henley’s hair, soft and itchy against the side of his neck helped some. When he looked up and met Jack’s eye, seeing a smile full of something so pure it overwhelmed him a bit, but also, it helped.

 

            It took an embarrassingly long time for Daniel to calm down enough that he was up to talking more. He sat, knees curled to his chest, chair moved so that it was pressed up to the side of Jack’s bed. The horsemen had created a bit of a circle, with Daniel and Henley with their chairs against the bed and Merritt sitting across from where Jack lay. Daniel wasn’t sure when they had moved, but he did know that he was grateful for the way Jack’s hand was tracing patterns across his upper arm, even though public affection made him uneasy, somehow this was alright.

 

            “I don’t want to push you,” Henley’s voice was softer than normal, but she didn’t talk to him like he was breaking down, her voice still carried its typical power. “But just I’ve been wondering and like, I know you didn’t mean it, but the way you were talking to Samson, I just…for a moment I though, well…” She blushed slightly, looking at Jack for help. The younger man just hummed and scratched lightly at Daniel’s arm, letting him know that he really did need to answer this. Daniel bit at his lip, his stomach rolling, before straightening out and putting his feet back onto the floor.

 

            “Men like Samson, they do whatever they can to bend you to their will. I knew that if he thought I cared about you all he would kill you all to make me go into his service. It didn’t work as well as I would have hoped,” he tensely glanced at the bed next to him. “But I took a risk because the consequences could have been much worse.”

 

            “So, you bet our lives on your ability to bullshit someone?” Merritt was hard to read, his voice hard and his eyebrow quirked up just slightly. Daniel couldn’t tell if he was mad, or was on the verge of making a dumb joke, or both. Probably both.

 

            “I know, I know, it was stupid. I had no way of knowing it would work but the prospect of having to work for Samson having t-to go back to how things used to be I just couldn’t. I know that’s selfish, and please believe me when I say that I would have done something else if possible and I would have taken his offer rather than see you all die but, but I had to try.” Daniel tried for a laugh, but it sounded more pained than anything, “I am supposed to be the asshole of the group after all, I have to live up to my reputation.” He realized he probably sounded slightly delirious.

 

            “Danny, we aren’t mad you, truly, we are all just trying to understand. We know you care about us, we know you wouldn’t try to get us hurt, sometimes when you’re staring down the barrel of a gun that can be hard to remember, but we know.” Jack sounded so sincere, his eyes shown with such a bright light, that Daniel found himself nodding, found himself feeling a little bit more full.

 

            “Yeah,” Henley rushed to clarify, “I wasn’t trying to suggest you were an awful person I guess I just wanted to know what to expect in the future.” _Regarding Samson_ went unsaid but the tension in the room spoke for itself.

 

            “Honestly? I’m not sure if our little stunt worked. Samson got what he wanted and yeah, we caused him an, let’s say, inconvenience, but I don’t think I mean enough to him that he’ll come looking for me. I mean, he’s known for holding grudges but, well he knows how to pick his battles and I’m pretty sure he got the message that we aren’t to be messed with.” The horsemen didn’t look completely satisfied with that answer but they nodded, they understood that it was all he could give them and that it would have to be enough. Daniel paused and then took a breath,

 

            “As for Von Hof,” he felt Jack stiffen next to him, and he could tell by the set of Henley’s jaw and the careful blankness of Merritt’s expression that they were trying to remain as neutral as possible, “I’m not going to say that there’s no way it will get back to me, and to us, but I’d say that it’s very _very_ unlikely it will.” Another deep breath. “On that subject, I understand if you want to turn me in. What I did was terrible. It was immoral, disgusting, it-it’s made me into a monster and I, well I deserve to be locked up for what I did.”

 

            “Well, yeah,” Merritt spoke casually, and Daniel turned towards him, he saw Jack sit up straighter in bed, sending Merritt a murderous glare. “But, since when have we been about doing the socially conventional thing. Besides,” Merritt smirked and leaned back a bit in his chair. “I would miss seeing how annoyed you get when Henley forgets the order for a show even though we’ve been over it ten billion times.”

 

            “Listen you asshole!” And just like that the tension was broken and Daniel felt himself smile, Jack’s hand getting a little heavier on his arm. It wasn’t perfect, but it was them, and they would be alright, they always were, it was just going to take a little longer this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW. That took me a long time to finish. I had this chapter ready about a month ago but couldn't get any internet to post it which was endlessly frustrating. Anyway, thank you for sticking with me throughout this long journey, I really didn't know where it was going for awhile but I'm happy with how it turned out and I hope you are too!! Thanks for reading <3

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, any feedback is appreciated. :)


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